Named in PP&R’s FY2025–26 site-partner roster for stewardship, operations and/or maintenance; individual responsibilities are not specified.
Portland.gov — Leach Botanical GardenPP&R FY2025–26 Partnerships & Volunteerism report, p. 5Leach Botanical Garden
Check the operator’s hours and admission or registration terms; participation may be limited. Public-entry status is separate from wheelchair accessibility.
Classification and evidence
Official page label: Public garden; Atlas classification rules. Classification: source-labeled.
Source captured: 2026-06-02. Human verification: Pending.
Check current official informationPublished activities: sit by a fountain, walk a soft path, and expect no dogs.
Photo from the City's park pagePark history
Leach Botanical Garden is a unique urban gem offering a place to explore and enjoy nature in outer Southeast Portland. The garden is situated on a free-flowing creek and features an aerial tree walk, a four-season pollinator garden, a variety of unique collections, including ferns, camellias, and spring ephemerals, meandering pathways, and many plants native to the Pacific Northwest.
Lilla and John Leach purchased the garden’s original 4.17 acres on Johnson Creek in 1932 and created a home and garden they called "Sleepy Hollow." Lilla was a well-respected botanist who found several plants previously unknown to western science, and John was a very civic-minded pharmacist. Lilla and John left their beloved home to Portland Parks & Recreation with the stipulation that it become a public garden within 10 years, or the property was to go to the YMCA. A group of concerned citizens lobbied the City to keep the property, but the transfer to the YMCA was set to take place when Portland Commissioner Charles Jordan decided to look at the garden before signing it away. After visiting the garden, he called it a “little jewel.” A plan was created to manage the garden with a non-profit partner organization, Leach Garden Friends. Leach Botanical Garden opened to the public in 1983.
From the City's page for this park.
Visitor amenities
Published amenities are checked separately from entry conditions. Each links to other documented locations; confirm current hours before visiting.
- sit by a fountainFountain
- walk a soft pathUnpaved path
- expect no dogsDogs not allowed
What kind of place this is
A public garden or arboretum, cared for as a collection rather than as open park land. Classified from official page labels it “Public garden”; our model.
Something specific to this park — the thing you'd use it for if it were here.
Send an idea for this park →School grounds nearby
Public school grounds within a half mile, by straight line. What is listed is what OpenStreetMap mappers have recorded, not an inventory. The district sets public access.
- Alice Ott Middle · David Douglas · 10.1 acres0.3 mi
On record: 1 track. Not recorded in this property’s inventory: running track. PP&R runs a SUN Community School here.
- Gilbert Park Elementary · David Douglas · 5.9 acres0.4 mi
Nothing recorded inside the grounds yet.
Beyond parks explains what opening a school ground would take.
School grounds: Metro RLIS. Features inside them: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Through the year
Seasonal facilities and listings captured by the Atlas. These records do not measure attendance, utilization or all activity at the site.
Counts describe captured listings, not attendance or all activity. No listings captured does not mean the site is unused.
Dark by 5 and wet most days: cover, lighting, indoor rooms, and paths that drain.
- sit by a fountain
- walk a soft path
- expect no dogs
Fields and gardens open; showers between sun. Leagues, planting, first picnics.
- walk a soft path
- sit by a fountain
- expect no dogs
Water, shade, long evenings — the season the system is built around.
- sit by a fountain
- walk a soft path
- expect no dogs
Light shortens and leagues wind down; shelters and lighting carry the season.
- sit by a fountain
- walk a soft path
- expect no dogs
| Season | Programs | Recurring events | One-time |
|---|---|---|---|
Winter Dec–Feb registration opens 10/08 (activities Nov 2 – Dec 13 and winter-break camps Dec 21 – Jan 3) | — | — | — |
Spring Mar–May Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Summer Jun–Aug Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fall Sep–Nov Recorded through 2026-09; 2 months still to come | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What's on
No current listings were captured and matched to this property. This does not establish that no activity takes place. See the citywide calendar and programs.
Partners & friends
The whole ecosystemCommunity organizations that steward, fund, operate, or run programs at Leach Botanical Garden. Labels show what is confirmed and what is still being filled in.
Support this park
Real ways to help Leach Botanical Garden and parks like it. This site does not process donations; every link below goes to an official giving or volunteering channel.
Public asset value at this park
Public value created when partners operate, maintain, fund, program, or steward park assets.
A specialized public garden remains active, cared for, and able to draw private and grant funding beyond City resources alone.
How it's holding up
The City's own inventory of what is here and the condition it last recorded for each item. Dates are the source's; old dates mean no newer public assessment, not that nothing has happened since. PP&R does not publish itemized repair costs, so needs appear without dollar figures.
Condition across all assets
Citywide condition atlasAcross 147 assessed assets at this park, 5% are in poor or very-bad condition (rated 4–5). Pooled from the City's public assessment layers — buildings, bridges, playgrounds, courts, fields, fences, paths and amenities.
This count comes from the City's rated asset layers; the “Public assets” list below is a separate furnishings inventory, so its items and scores are counted separately and the two totals need not match.
Condition is rated 1 (good) to 5 (very bad); no score means not yet assessed and is excluded. Park trees are inventoried separately and not counted here. No repair costs — those aren't published.
Repair ledger
Public data does not currently flag repair candidates for this park. Additional PP&R maintenance exports can be added without changing the page structure.
Seen something here that's broken, fixed, or missing from this list? Records are updated periodically; tell us what you see.
Send a condition note →Public assets
All 6Furnishings the City inventories here, with each item's condition score — 1 is good, 5 is very bad. Asset photos aren't public yet.
From the City's park page
Leach Botanical Garden on Portland.gov
Photo of the Leach Botanical Garden as Oregon sunlight ripples through the cooling trees. Photo by Leach Botanical Garden staffer Tamra Tiemeyer.
Leach Botanical Garden is a unique urban gem offering a place to explore and enjoy nature in outer Southeast Portland. The garden is situated on a free-flowing creek and features an aerial tree walk, a four-season pollinator garden, a variety of unique collections, including ferns, camellias, and spring ephemerals, meandering pathways, and many plants native to the Pacific Northwest. Leach Botanical Garden is committed to providing positive experiences to the diverse community upon which it relies for support.
Visit the official Leach Botanical Garden website for complete venue details. See all Garden etiquette in FAQs.
Leach Botanical Garden hours change seasonally. This winter, hours are: Visit the official Leach Botanical Garden website for more information.
This page, on a sign
The QR label for this park points here. Print labels →
https://parks.portlandciviclab.org/parks/leach-botanical-garden-226?utm_source=park_qr&utm_medium=sign&utm_campaign=park_226
Where this comes from
Facilities from the City's amenity pages and asset layers; hours, photo, and history from the City's park page; programs and events from its catalogs; condition from PortlandMaps public records. Where the City publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.