Making the Most of the Rain

  • By Curtis Robert Tyree
  • May 2, 2011
  • 269
                        
Summary: Want to take advantage of all the rain as of late, the Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District will show you how to create and maintain a rain garden on May 10 at Fort Laurens. With all the rain the county received last month, many might be wondering how to better manage all the excess water that seems to be pooling everywhere. Well, the Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District has a solution, rain gardens. The aptly named gardens help capture rainwater and release it into the ground more slowly while adding some beauty. The TSWCD will be holding a rain garden demonstration and installation at Fort Laurens on Tuesday May 10 from 6 -8 pm. “Rain gardens are an easy, cost effective way to control water flow from rainfall and add the beauty of a natural garden filled with native plants,” said Jenny Fisher, District Technician for the Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District. “What rain gardens do is collect and filter water from rooftops or parking lots that has been diverted to it. They’re mainly seen in more urban areas, where they’ve caught on but are now starting to work their way into more rural areas such as Tuscarawas County. “The new rain garden at Fort Laurens will not be our first time constructing one. We worked with the Norma Johnson Center in 2007 to install a rain garden on their grounds, which was paid for by an educational grant, to be used as a way to inform people of them and how they work. We’re hoping that the new rain garden at Fort Laurens, which sees more visitors than the Norma Johnson Center, will get more people interested in rain gardens. The presentation on May 10 will be hands on, showing them various aspects of how the garden comes together and works. All the digging will be done beforehand so that we can focus on the garden itself. What we hope to show participants are what types of plants to use, where to place the garden, how to assemble it and how to divert water to it.” The Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District asked Kyle Valentini to take part in the demonstration, wanting to use her vast knowledge of native plants to help inform the participants. “Rain gardens are an excellent way to emulate nature,” said Valentini. “An enormous amount of water from downspouts, roofs, driveways, parking lots and the concrete jungle we have created is lost to our municipal sewer systems every time it rains. This can be a burden on the sewer systems. It's a shame for that much usable water to be lost. With a rain garden, water is gradually put back into the Earth. The plants in the garden can tolerate periods of wetness and periods of drought because they are native to the region and are accustomed to the ever-changing patterns of weather we are all so familiar with in Ohio. Rain gardens also provide habitat for wildlife, beautify a space and perpetuate the native species of plants that have been Ohio for thousands of years.” The rain garden demonstration will take place from 6 to 8 pm on Tuesday May 10 at the stone picnic shelter at Fort Laurens, in Bolivar. To see a working rain garden, visit the Norma Johnson Center on St. Rt. 39 between Sugarcreek and Dover.


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