Here at the Coastkeeper Garden, we’re pulling out all the stops to be responsible with this season’s most precious resource – rainwater.
The Garden is equipped with several bioswales — landscaping elements that remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. These bioswales help prevent flooding and keep polluted water from flowing into our waterways.
All the rainwater in the Garden collects and flows through a swaled drainage course, a wide and shallow ditch filled with vegetation.
The bioswale acts as an environmental buffer, filtering pollution and silt out of the water as it flows through.
Finally, the water flows to a riser and creates a natural pond in one of the Garden’s river habitats. This promotes groundwater absorption and provides natural irrigation.
The Garden has six catch basins that absorb water after the rain. This provides another source of water to irrigate the garden — at no cost.
Want to try this at home?
Creating your own bioswale will keep your landscape from flooding and allow rainwater to be reused on site instead of flushing out to storm drains.
To learn more about saving money and protecting the environment with your garden, visit the Coastkeeper Garden. Our experts would be happy to show you around and teach you all you need to know about saving water with a beautiful landscape – rain or shine.
