Landscaping in Ariel, WA starts with the hill and the rain. Ariel sits on the northwest bank of Lake Merwin, about 11 miles up SR-503 from Woodland, and the NOAA station at Merwin Dam records 68.17 inches of precipitation a year, close to twice what Vancouver, WA gets. Put that much water on steep, ash-rich soil and every bare patch wants to slide toward the lake.
This page covers Ariel and the whole upper Lewis River corridor: lakefront and lake-view lots on Lake Merwin, the Yale community and Yale Lake, Cougar, and the acreage along Lewis River Road in between. Many of these places are cabins and second homes on 1 to 5 acres or more. Bogar Landscaping is based at the bottom of the same highway in Woodland, a 20-minute drive away. Call (360) 555-0142 any hour.
Ariel, Lake Merwin and the Upper Lewis River
Lake Merwin formed in 1931 behind Merwin Dam. It covers 3,921 acres, with about 32 miles of shoreline straddling the Clark and Cowlitz County line. Yale Lake, upstream past the Yale community, followed in 1953. PacifiCorp owns the reservoirs and runs public parks around them, including the Speelyai Bay boat ramp near Ariel and Cresap Bay farther up the lake.
SR-503 has been the way in since it was laid out as the Lewis River Road in 1909, and after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens the stretch between Woodland and the Yale Bridge stayed closed until 1982. The communities along it are small and spread out: the Ariel Store and Tavern, home of the yearly D.B. Cooper Days, the Lelooska Museum, and the Woodland School District boundary running all the way up to Yale and Cougar.
Census data counts about 39 percent of housing units in the 98603 ZIP as vacant, a figure that lines up with how many lake places are cabins and weekend homes. Those properties need landscaping that holds up for weeks with nobody watching it.
Rain, Volcanic Ash and Steep Ground Around Ariel
USDA soil maps around Ariel show Cinebar silt loam, a well-drained soil formed in loess and slope deposits high in volcanic ash, on slopes from 3 to 70 percent. The steepest ground is mapped as Siouxon very cobbly silt loam and Siouxon-Rock outcrop complex, on slopes of 30 to 90 percent, with 50 to 80 percent cobbles and other rock fragments below the surface.
Add the December average of 10.82 inches of rain at Merwin Dam and you get the usual Ariel problems:
- Erosion. Ash-rich silt loam moves easily once it is bare; that is where erosion control comes in. Cleared slopes and new driveway cuts need cover before October.
- Moss. Douglas fir and hemlock shade plus long wet winters put moss on lawns, paths, steps and north-facing banks.
- Rock in every hole. Cobbly Siouxon ground makes fence posts, planting and trenching slow, which is why a mini excavator earns its place on these jobs.
- Water from uphill. Runoff from the slope above, the roof and the driveway has to go somewhere other than the slope below.
Rain gardens are rarely the answer on these lots. Washington's rain garden handbook says to consult a geotechnical engineer before building one within 50 feet of a slope over 10 percent, and to keep them 100 feet from drinking-water wells. We rely on dispersion areas, rock-lined swales and French drains that outlet where they cannot cut a gully.
Waterfront Lots on Lake Merwin and Yale Lake
Lakefront work is where we slow down. Shoreline permits, setbacks and limits on clearing near the water vary between Cowlitz County, Clark County and the utility that runs the reservoirs, and they depend on your parcel. We check what applies before we start, and we do not clear or regrade near the water until we know.
On the lake side of a property, this is the approach we usually suggest:
- Keep a native buffer. Instead of lawn to the water, plant red-twig dogwood, Pacific ninebark, snowberry, salal and sword fern, all on the native lists in Washington's rain garden handbook. They hold the bank and never need mowing.
- Open the view without topping trees. We limb up conifers and keep shrubs on the downhill side low, so you see the water from the deck.
- Build paths and steps that shed water. Block steps, gravel paths with steel edging and short terraced retaining walls with drain rock behind them handle foot traffic on a slope far better than a dirt track.
