Park Township Rain Garden
Click here to view Rain Garden Photos
Click here to view a list of plants in our new rain garden: RAIN GARDEN PLANTINGS
Helping Young Minds Grow…visit kidsgardening.org
To view a wetlands reading list for levels pre-kindergarten through grade 12 recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency click: Books
The following letter came from West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Patricia Pennell is the Program Director for Rain Gardens of West Michigan. You can check out their web site at http://www.wmeac.org/ or http://www.raingardens.org/Index.php .
October 23, 2009
To Whom It May Concern:
Last summer WMEAC had the wonderful opportunity to plant a rain garden with the partnership of the Holland Garden Club. This was part of an educational workshop in Park Township, with children from the community. It was a delightful project and everyone enjoyed themselves.
We thank the Holland Garden Club for being a primary partner and participant in this rain garden project. The plants donated and the people-hours they put in working with WMEAC, the township, and the children made the day a great success.
A rain garden is a beautiful landscaping feature planted with perennial plants native to our region. It is a bowl-shaped or saucer-shaped garden with deep, loose soil, designed to absorb stormwater run-off from impervious surfaces such as roofs and parking lots. Rain gardens hold water and allow it to soak naturally into the soil. The new rain garden in Park Township drains from the parking lot at Park Township Hall.
Rain is natural; stormwater isn’t. Government studies have shown that up to 70% of the pollution in our streams, rivers and lakes is carried there by stormwater. Planting a rain garden may seem like a small thing, but if you calculate the amount of rain that runs off a roof, you would be very surprised. That rain is supposed to soak into the ground, but because of the way we design our roads and parking lots, it heads down the street to the storm drain, carrying pollution with it.
Keeping rain where it falls, by putting it into a beautiful rain garden, is a natural solution. You not only get a lovely garden out of it, you have the added benefit of helping protect our rivers, streams and lakes from stormwater pollution.
We look forward to working on more such projects with the Holland Garden Club.
Regards,
Patricia
