Rain Gardens

The Virginia Department of Forestry, Ducks Unlimited and the Potomac Conservancy are working with local communities to protect against pollution of the Potomac River through rain gardens. Rain gardens are retention areas that act like natural forest habitats, soaking up excess stormwater that is full of pollutants from roofs, sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. Through the placement and planting of mulch and hardy vegetation, these pollutants can be absorbed into the rain garden, so that the water that leaves the garden is cleaner than when it entered.

The groups recently installed a series of wetlands and rain gardens at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in the scenic Shenandoah Valley. The 43-acre retirement community is located at a headwater of Blacks’ Run, which has already been the focus of several restoration and enhancement initiatives, including a new greenway.

“We’re putting in a series of three different rain gardens, with some grass species, trees, shrubs, and flowers that are suitable for wet and dry seasons,” says Jack Kauffman, forest health coordinator for the Virginia Department of Forestry. Larger trees and shrubs were chosen for the rain garden instead of seedlings and saplings, so that their roots would immediately start to siphon pollutants out of collected stormwater.

In addition, the Department of Forestry, along with the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs, holds workshops on “Conservation Through Rain Gardens.” The workshops will feature presentations on riparian buffers, rain garden site identification and sizing, constructing a rain garden, stormwater mitigation, wildlife habitat in a rain garden, and landscape design issues. The workshop will emphasize that rain gardens are easily built by communities as well as single landowners.

Volunteers receive instructions on planting for a community rain garden at Blue Ridge Community College, VA.