Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County Demostration Rain Garden

Overview

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History:

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County rain garden was installed as part of the Stormwater Management in Your Backyard program that trained the Master Gardeners of Gloucester County.

Type of Runoff Managed:

This rain garden manages stormwater runoff from the Gloucester County Government Services Building courtyard. Unlike a typical lawn area, the courtyard generated an abundance of runoff because of poor soil permeability.

Installation:

Approximately ten Master Gardeners of Gloucester County were present for the installation of the rain garden in November 2006, which was approved by the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The Gloucester County Department of Public Works provided in-kind assistance with the rain garden installation. Dean's Evergreens, Inc. and Johnson Farms donated the native plants for the rain garden. Others were pruchased from a nursery. Excavation was required to remove the existing soil that performed poorly with regard to infiltration. It was replaced with a sandy soil mix. Overflow from the rain garden is discharged into an existing swale that conveys water into a nearby detention basin with a concrete low-flow channel.

Plant List:

Bee Balm
Black Eyed Susan
Blackhaw Viburnum
Blue Flag Iris
Cardinal Flower
Christmas Fern
False Blue Indigo
Feather Reed Grass
Hardy Ageratum
Inkberry Holly
Joe Pye Weed
Red-Twig Dogwood
Soft Rush
Virginia Sweetspire

Maintenance:

The rain garden is maintained by the Master Gardeners of Gloucester County.

Mid-Atlantic Rain Gardens
updated 03/2012 by rutgers.water.resources.program