About & History
Leach Back Five
The Back 5 Community Habitat Enhancement Project goes beyond the goal of ecosystem restoration.
The project is first and foremost an educational program designed to engage, educate, and connect people of different cultural backgrounds—to each other and to the land.
In addition to enhancing and maintaining the site by prioritizing and planting native species, we assess and analyze our progress by conducting annual plant, macroinvertebrate and amphibian surveys.
We have ongoing workshops on macroinvertebrates, pollinators, Indigenous Traditional Ecological & Cultural Knowledge, ornithology, community science, geology, plant identification and propagation, nature journaling and health in nature. These workshops encourage youth to bring their own curiosity and perspective to the natural world.
Check out the Leach Botanical Garden community events page for any upcoming, public events.
Johnson Creek used to flow through old-growth forests of western redcedar and Douglas-fir trees. The lands were rich and abundant with native mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Steelhead, Coho, and Cutthroat Trout swam in the cool, shaded waters of the creek. The Clackamas and Chinook tribes fished and hunted in and around the creek since time immemorial. In 1806, when Lewis and Clark visited the area, Clackamas tribes had 1,800 people living within 11 villages. The population dwindled to 88 by 1851 due to epidemics of smallpox, malaria, and measles. In 1855, the tribe entered into a treaty that ceded their lands, which included Johnson Creek.
In the mid-1800s, white pioneers began forcibly claiming land along the banks of Johnson Creek. They cut down the ancient trees to use for railroad ties and building houses. They also cleared the flat areas for farmland and agricultural purposes, using the rich soil that came from floods. There were three mills built along the creek, and intensive logging decimated the old-growth forests.
John and Lilla Leach purchased 4 acres of land on Johnson Creek for $10 in the early 1930’s. Lilla was a well-respected botanist and John was a pharmacist and civic leader. They built the stone cabin on the south side of Johnson Creek in 1932, and their Manor House on the north side of the creek in 1936. After their deaths in 1972 and 1980, the Leach’s gifted their home and garden to Portland Parks and Recreation with the intention of it serving the community as a garden and museum. Specifically, they wished for the garden to serve neighboring children and young people, which continues to be a main priority of both the Leach Botanical Garden and the Back 5 project. Learn more about John and Lilla Leach and the history of Leach Botanical Garden) (link)
Friends of Leach Garden purchased an adjacent property in 1999, which sat largely undeveloped until 2019. A year prior, Leach Botanical Garden’s Education Manager created the first project proposal for a project that would restore 4.5 acres along Johnson Creek to native habitat as an ongoing educational program.
In 2019, project partners entered the Back 5 for the first field day. Assessments of the land were conducted. Most of the property was in rough shape, with blackberry brambles over 10 feet tall, invasive English ivy covering the landscape and trees, and many unsafe snags.
Restoration work began by cutting down several of the most dangerous snags, and removal of the blackberries with weed-wackers and hand tools. Project partners agreed to avoid the use of herbicides for the restoration, so all restoration work has been completed safely (and slowly!).
Over the years, volunteers and project partners have developed trails, added thousands of native plants, and removed countless invasive species. We have cared for a vernal pond that supports amphibian breeding and other wildlife habitat. We have conducted hundreds of plant and wildlife surveys.
In 2023 we celebrated the five-year anniversary of the Back 5’s first field day. In 2025 we will open the Back 5 to the public, removing the fence that separates the curated, international botanical garden and the rewilded nature scape of the Back 5.
We are excited to share this space with you.
Leach Botanical Garden was the home of Lilla and John Leach from 1936-1972.
Lilla was a well-respected botanist and John was a pharmacist and civic leader. Lilla and John purchased the original 4.17 acre property on Johnson Creek in 1931 for ten dollars and called it “Sleepy Hollow.” They built the stone cabin on the south side of the creek in 1932 and enjoyed spending weekends there. When the Manor House was completed in 1936, it became their year-round home, with the garden development beginning in earnest in 1937. John Leach and Wilbert Davies, a student of Landscape Architecture, did most of the landscaping work them-selves, including much of the stonework in the original Leach Garden areas.