St. Luke Playground Transformation

Greetings Vermont Hills Family! Today we are taking a look into the new playground that has been built at St. Luke. Many of you have watched the playground take shape from just a wooden box and some debris into the wonderful hill and slide area it is now. But for those who did not get to see the process we are going to take you through what happened step by step.

Our Coordinator Michael has been in charge of this project and has been its creator. When he first learned that he would be working on a new playground, he went to work doing research on the best ways to recycle materials and make this a fun and functional piece that would last. This is when the growing technique of Hügelkultur was decided upon.

Hügelkultur is where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and compostable biomass plant materials is planted as a raised bed. He chose this method of building and creating because it not only recycles old unused material, but also creates a great foundation for growth.

Natural playgrounds help children to develop other beneficial behaviors in addition to physical skills. These behaviors include social skills, cooperation, and the ability to solve problems. In addition, natural playgrounds stimulate a child's imagination and creativity more than a traditional playground. Natural playgrounds help children to appreciate nature and to learn about their environment. With this in mind he went to work.

The first step was to create a base. This would be used for extra stability and create a place for the climbing wall and slide. The base was rather tall and large but this was needed to create the proper angle for the slide. Nothing worse than trying to go down and slide and not go anywhere.

Once the frame was built, it was off to get donated material. Everything from branches and yard debris to concrete and fill dirt. All these things would need to be layered to create the base of the hill and nutrition for plants to grow. The concrete bits were added for stability, pine was chosen for most of the wood. It is a waxier wood that takes much longer to break down than other varieties. Many community members in Hillsboro, SE, and SW Portland donated materials to the project. After picking up the donations, they were layered in the structures base.

Next, came the adding of soil. We were very fortunate to get some fill dirt by Bestbuy Soil in Hillsboro. We also purchased top soil to help the sod and plants grow. The majority of the donations and help came through from Tyron Creek Landscaping. Without their help and donation of dirt this project would have gone over budget and taken much longer to complete. They dropped off several truckloads of dirt to our location, and then transported the soil they donated, over the fence, closer to the project. This simple act of moving the dirt, saved countless hours of loading wheel barrows and shoveling to be done. We cannot say thank you enough to them for the help they gave us.

Once the soil was on the other side of the fence came the process of moving it into place and packing it down. This took several back breaking days, with the end product looking amazing. There is a nice slope leading up to the slide for children, a climbing wall, and plenty of room to play around it.

With the hill in place and packed down, one more layer of top soil was needed. This will help the sod and plants grow. We used over 2 yard of top soil on the hill. After that was in place came the sod. We got the sod from Oregon Tree and Sod Farm. Using some grass fertilizers and prepping the area, the sod was laid out. 250 sq. feet of sod was used for the top of the structure. Unfortunately, the children had to wait to play on the structure until the grass finally took root. This process can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks and seeing the structure ready to play on but having to wait was hard, but for the sake of the grass they did it.

A few last things still needed to be done for the project to be completed. Tires were donated by Les Schwab. The insides white to deter spiders and the outsides bright colors to not only help reduce the heat from sitting in the sun all day, but also to bring some pops of color to the playground. With these in place bark chips were added for the final touches. They were placed along the slopes, and at the bottom of the slide for safety.

The end product is an amazing area for children to enjoy and play on. There is over 80,000lbs of filler soil, 9,000 lbs. of top landscaping materials, and an unknown amount of concrete/debris/logs that have been used. Plus, not only is it kid friendly, but it also kept in line with our goal of being a green sustainable company. We recycled and reused as much materials as possible and involved the community around us as well. We hope the children will enjoy this for many years to come.