The natural discovery garden at Metro's Blue Lake regional park opened in 2007, but has just received its finishing touch: Two 14-foot cedar poles engraved with traditional symbols from the Columbia River's Wasco tribe.
Surrounded by many native plants, the two poles bring to mind the Native American villages that once inhabited that Fairview park and surrounding lands. Metro gardening expert Carl Grimm, who calls this step the crowning piece of the garden, said he wanted to emphasize the importance of the plants' centuries-spanning uses.
"The idea to add the carvings grew out of the garden's focus on native plants," Grimm said. "It harkens back to the history of the area and the use of the plants over the years."
Portland artist Joshua Bruno was selected to craft the poles after Metro found he shared similar motives when it came to his work.
"The placement of the carvings in the native garden represents the connection the land has to native people working with the land as it was, in its natural state," Bruno said. "It's a practice that can be carried on to future generations."
Bruno selected a combination of symbols found in Wasco petroglyphs along the Columbia River Gorge and basket weaving designs to carve into the logs. Based on these carvings' meanings, the southern pole represents night while the northern pole represents day.
While Bruno had a detailed rough draft of the designs before he started carving, he said the end product is far from what he initially planned on.
"You never know what will look good on the specific piece of wood you're working on. Sometimes a pattern goes against the grain of the wood or the flow is broken," said Bruno. "I had to completely redraft my design once I started carving. It added to its uniqueness."
Grimm said the garden has interpretive signs to help visitors understand the historic connection.
"The garden's purpose is to encourage learning within families and in other visitors," Grimm said. "Hopefully this final addition will capture imaginations and provide historic context that will encourage families to cultivate their own native gardens."
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Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage of native plants at the garden, the symbolism of the poles, the duration of time people have been using plants and the length of time signs have been in the garden. The garden has many native plants. The poles bring to mind Native American villages, but do not represent them. The plants' uses have spanned centuries. Interpretive signs are already in place. This version has been corrected.