by Amber Ellis, JRA's Watershed Restoration Associate/Volunteer Coordinator
Many of us have heard of rain gardens and know how great
they are at reducing the amount of runoff leaving our homes and businesses and
what a great tool they are in cleaning that runoff water. But have you heard of
a garden that not only soaks up rainwater, but also grey water? Here’s a tour
through a unique garden that was designed by JRA’s Landscape Architect, Amber
Ellis to take care of the grey water produced from the bunkhouse (a tricky task
on an island!), handle the overflow from the rainwater cistern, and provide a
great educational landscape for the students.
Rainwater flows through both downspouts on either side of the bunkhouse into the cistern underground. You can see the green top of the cistern if you look closely!
The grey water is sent to an underground tank that is a matrix of plastic cubes that resemble milk cartons. These are then wrapped in a fabric that allows the water to seep out, but keeps the dirt and debris out of the tank.
The grey water is sent to an underground tank that is a matrix of plastic cubes that resemble milk cartons. These are then wrapped in a fabric that allows the water to seep out, but keeps the dirt and debris out of the tank.
Once the tank is underground and the hole is filled with a bioretention soil mix (compost, sand, and topsoil), JRA’s volunteers came out on a cold day in March to install the plants and place the stones.
The plants used in the garden had to meet a lot of requirements including able to handle being really wet, really dry, deer resistant, and native.
As of this August, the plants are doing great! The Goldenrod and
Asters are already blooming!
The
only challenge will be keeping weeds out of the garden. Many of the students
that come out to the Ecology School participate in service projects and
maintaining this garden will be just one of the many projects they get to work
on.
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