Central Ohio Rain Garden Initiative

Grove City rain garden & workshop

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:44:19 +0000

Eleven Grove City residents came out to Gantz Farms on Saturday to be part of a rain garden workshop and planting day with the City of Grove City and Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District. The residents learned about rain gardens, then the group planted and mulched a large rain garden that captures storm water runoff from the adjacent home, garage, and parking lot. Educational signage will be incorporated into the rain garden.

Another rain garden workshop is being planned for Sept. 25th at Henceroth Park in Grove City with the same format. Grove City residents can call 614-277-3050 to register!

Gantz Farms rain garden

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:40:13 +0000

Gantz Farms
2255 Home Rd., Grove City
484 sqft.
Installed 2010

Right-of-way gardens update

Stephanie Suter — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:50:52 +0000

Three of the five right-of-way rain gardens were finished being planted today. The slopes of the sides were seeded, and curb cuts are being finished up. The next two will be planted, then the gardens will receive a small sod planting to help filter sediment as storm water enters the gardens from the roadway. The white pipes in the gardens are sampling wells to monitor the level of water that enters the garden, and they will each have a pressure transducer in the bottom of those wells to help gather the information. The gardens should all be completed by mid next week!

Volunteer at FLOW’s Soaking It In project

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:52:46 +0000

The Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed invite you to join them in helping plant, mulch, and water a new rain garden! This rain garden is being installed at the Columbus Mennonite Church at 35 Oakland Park Ave. Columbus 43214. The first rain garden day is August 28th from 9am to 2pm, and the second day to help is September 11th from 9am to noon. (Sept. 11th will serve as a rain date if it rains on Aug. 28th.) Please wear closed-toe shoes and bring shovels and gloves. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. Contact Kim Williams at 614-267-3386 or kwilliams@olentangywatershed.org to RSVP.

Click here to view or pass along flyer – Soak It In_FLOW_flier

This project is funded through Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.

Brook Run right-of-way rain gardens

Stephanie Suter — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:23:28 +0000

Excavation, curb cutting, and soil replacing have begun for the right-of-way rain gardens in the Brook Run neighborhood in Westerville. Each garden will have a topsoil/compost mix added to replace the poor soil that was in the right-of-way area. Each rain garden will collect road drainage that normally runs directly to the storm water system that leads to the nearby creek. The rain garden preparation should be completed this week, then planting will start next week.

The City of Westerville, Watershed Organic Lawn Care, and Tamarack Excavating, Inc. are carrying out the curb cuts, soil preparation, and excavation, respectively. The Franklin County Master Gardeners have volunteered to help maintain the gardens after they are finished.

This aspect of the project is funded through a Research Grant from the Ohio Water Development Authority, with The Ohio State University and Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District as the co-applicants. .

Third issue of the Rain Gardener

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:00:17 +0000

Our third issue of our quarterly newsletter is posted below.

Newsletter_vol1issue3

Canal Winchester praises/uses rain gardens

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:18:15 +0000

Canal Winchester is changing up their storm water management code and design manual. Read this article to find out what they say about rain gardens:

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/canalwinchester/stories/2010/07/28/updates-suggested-for-stormwater-code.html?sid=104

Brook Run residential rain gardens complete

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:21:32 +0000

As of Friday July 23rd, all of the residential rain gardens are complete. The downspouts were unhooked from the storm water system in the neighborhood and directed into the gardens. Monarchs have already been seen on some of the wildflowers!

The next step in the project is to install the rain gardens in the right-of-way areas throughout the neighborhood. There will be 6 rain gardens that collect storm water runoff from the roadways (which also contains the rest of the downspouts that weren’t added into the residential gardens). Construction should begin in the next couple weeks.

Monitoring has been a challenge, however 3 v-notched weirs will be installed in the main outlet, the cul-de-sac outlet, and the control neighborhood outlet to coincide with the installation of the right-of-way rain gardens. The hope is to establish a definitive reduction of storm water runoff through the use of rain gardens by comparing data from the control neighborhood. Other monitoring tools will be used in the right-of-way gardens, such as pressure transducer and lysimeter-type instrumentation.

Rain gardens as a public health tool

Stephanie Suter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:15:52 +0000

The CDC has a project in Muncie to eliminate standing water in a poorly drained neighborhood by installing rain barrels that overflow to rain gardens.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20100726/NEWS01/7260324

Disconnecting the downspouts

Stephanie Suter — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:32:04 +0000

As of Saturday, all of the rain gardens in Brook Run have been planted! The landscaper is working on disconnecting the downspouts that lead to each of the gardens. Each grate/riser on the pipe leading into the gardens has a small screw that the homeowner can remove if they need to get into the pipe to clean it out. Each grate/riser is covered with stone for aesthetics, as well as helping to slow and spread out water coming into the garden.

The last baseline data was collected before the disconnections, and all water quantity data moving forward should reflect the reduction in storm water leading to the storm water system. Disconnections will continue today and into next week.