Rain Garden Part II

Rain Garden Part II

Well, the garden was planted in high humidity and heat, but we are pretty proud of the results.  We made an effort to include plants that are native to this region, drought resistant yet tolerant of influxes of water, attractive to wildlife, tolerant of salt (our winters can be harsh), and attractive!  With that tall order, you can imagine the puzzle it was to create this garden.  We had a wonderful time choosing the plants and placing them in their new home.  Below are the photos of the various plants and the final product.



Looking forward to watching the flowers grow and expand.

To make the garden aesthetically pleasing, we incorporated a variety of shapes and also heights.  The flowers in the back of the garden are taller - 2' - 4'.  The plants in the middle are 1' - 3', and the miniature fountain grass in the front will stay under 12".  The grasses will maintain some definition throughout the winter, as will the holly bushes in the center.

We added butterfly weed to attract wildlife and assist in pollination of plants. 

The following is a listing of the different plant varieties included in the garden:

*  Great Blue Lobelia - Lobelia siphilitica

*  Strawberry Seduction Yarrow - Achillia millefolium

*  Blazing Star - Liatris spicata

*  'Hello Yellow' Butterfly Flower - Asclepias tuberosa

*  'First Love' Dianthus - Dianthus chinensus

*  'Burgundy Bunny' miniature fountain grass - Pennisetum alopecuriodes

*  Japanese Bloodgrass

*  'Jim Dandy' Winterberry

 

Side note:  Due to the humidity and heat we are currently experiencing, a ban was placed on watering in our municipality.  We moved to plan B, which was to hook up a hose to our holding tank (it collects ground and rain water) and water the new garden with solar energy.  So, the water was recycled using a solar pump!



Our entrance

Rain Garden Project

Rain Garden Project

We have begun a new project on site!  Thanks to funding through DCNR Keep America Beautiful and DEP Environmental Education grants, we were able to begin creating a beautiful rain garden to help with stormwater runoff from Wager Road and the driveway/parking lot.

If you picture in your mind heavy rainstorms in the summer months, or if you are familiar with the northern regions when the weather warms and large amounts of snow melt quickly, you can picture stormwater.  It is the extra water that runs along roadsides, down culverts and gulleys, and fills low areas of lawns and parking lots.  Normally water from rain and snowmelt is absorbed into the ground.  However, when we get a lot of water in a short amount of time, the earth can't handle it that quickly and it runs over the surface.  This stormwater runoff can cause a lot of problems, namely:

• Erosion.  The water will pick up small bits of earth and rock, called sediment, and carry it away.  As the earth is pulled away, anything built on it (buildings, roads, even vegetation) will lose stability.
• Non-point source pollution.  As the water runs along the surface, it will pick up any toxins or pollutants that might be there, such as oil, chemical spills or leaks, or pesticides/herbicides that have been applied, and carry them away.  The unwanted chemicals may then end up in our lakes and streams. 

 Rain gardens can help solve both of these problems.  Rain gardens work by catching and holding rainwater runoff in its basin, allowing the earth to have time to absorb the water, but also allowing the plants in the garden to both absorb the water and assist in filtering pollutants out of the runoff.  The garden is not a pond; if built correctly, it will not have standing water.  It will, however, assist in managing the stormwater runoff from sidewalks, driveways, and roads while offering a sanctuary for wildlife and adding beauty to the area!

The following are some pictures of the rain garden being built step by step:

Initial excavation - the garden is 18" deep with a berm built on the downslope side to help catch any overflow. 

We have a problem with runoff from the road washing away our driveway.  To manage this issue, we had an 18' trench dug and filled it with 4" perforated field tile and 2B stone around it.  Our goal is to have the pipe in the trench catch the water during rainstorms and snowmelt and divert it to the rain garden, rather than erode our drive.



After we found a way to divert water to the garden, we also wanted to make sure that if there was too much water for the garden to handle, it had a way to exit that would still be manageable.  Now we build the outflow pipe, which will only be put into use if there were an extraordinary amount of water added to the garden.  The pipe exits at the downslope side of the garden and will be eventually guided to a Level Spreader.  This spreader will be made from perforated pipe and attached to the end of the outlet pipe.  In this way, instead of water potentially gushing out the pipe and onto one area, the water will be dissipated and directed through multiple perforations in the spreader to allow a wider area of earth to absorb the excess water.

This is a photo of the PVC pipe leading to the outflow area.

The soil in our area is mainly clay.  After discovering that our soil does not absorb water well or quickly, several amendments to the rain garden were made, one of them being a perforated pipe in the bottom of the garden as a backup.  If the water going into the garden cannot be absorbed into the soil in a timely manner, or the plants are overwhelmed with water, the pipe on the bottom of the garden will help in directing the water out of the garden to the Level Spreader, which will direct the water to a wider space of land. 

Our Rain Garden full of amended soil!  Due to the clay, we needed to bring in soil that would allow water to be absorbed, but would also be great for plants.  We added a mixture of about 50% sand, 25% compost, and 25% topsoil.  This mixture, blended with the 'fluffed' up clay from below, will help in the absorption process and also make a great home for the new plants.  The final planting will be posted soon -

Great Horned Owl Discovery

Summer adventures in the Park started with a bang!  Staff here have been doing quite a bit of maintenance lately on the trails, managing poison ivy and keeping trails clear and tidy.  Hikers may have noticed that some trails have been widened and bumps and stumps are starting to be knocked out, if possible.  Watching the season unfold has been incredible.

About a week ago, another staff member and myself were clearing trails with the gator (our handy 4-wheeled workhorse) and I heard a muffled yet distinct scream.  As we had been merrily working along the trail, we had interrupted a Great Horned Owl's meal of a garter snake!  Our gator came so close, and the owl was so well camoflauged, we nearly ran it down. 

Startled and cautious - the camoflauge is amazing!

Winking;)

Watching and waiting

Because we startled it so, it made some great hopping leaps along the trail, clearly upset that it had been disturbed but unwilling to leave it's meal.  Those amazing yellow eyes zoned in on the both of us and slowly and carefully watched each of our movements.  Once we put the story together (we eventually found the half-eaten snake and realized what had happened) we departed as quietly as possible to let nature run its course.  Thankfully we were able to snap a few shots with a cell phone that are posted. 

We swung back around about an hour later to check on its status and it was happily eating, this time not willing to budge as we viewed from a safe distance.  Visiting the park during various hours always provides wonderful insight to the inner-workings of the natural surroundings of our region.