Gardening wiht the Rain

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Gardening with Rainwater
BY DEBBIE KANE
ILLUSTRATION BY LENITA BOFINGER
With the right design,
DAVID CEDARIIOLiI, D RIIAj)'S TOWN ENGINEER, is passionate about rain gardens.
Mother Nature can On a stormy day-"the best time to see how a rain garden works," he says-
help you reduce- Cedarholm enthusiastically entices a visitor into the elements to see a sixteen-foot-
by-ten-foot, stone-filled patch of ornamental grasses, irises and day lilies adjacent
or even eliminate- to the Durham Public Works (DP,v) building.
how much you Despite a howling wind and torrential rain, water isn't visibly pooling in the
garden-which is how it's supposed to work, Cedarholm explains. "The water
have to water your percolates down through the garden, and the overAow goes into a catch basin
landscape plantings. (in the parking lot)," he says. "People arc amazed at how it works."
38 NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME I MARCH/APRil 2009

2. FACING PAGE: Native plants-such as wild berga-
mot, blue flag, maidenhair fern, blue cardinal
flower, liatris, rudebekia and wild columbine-
flourish in rain gardens.
THIS PAGE: The New England Wild Flower Society's
rain garden in Framingham, Massachusetts,
features plants native to North America, such
as false goat's beard, cardinal flowers and
dwarf-crested irises.
Cedarholm started his garden by ing, where water runoff from roofs, between 30 percent and 40 percent
digging an eight-inch-deep "bowL" He yards and paved surfaces is absorbed in more runoff than a conventional lawn,
created a berm around it to delineate the garden. The water is filtered slowly slowing the rush of a rainstorm and
the area and keep water inside the gar- through the garden's plantings and lessening its potentially polluting effect
den when it rained. into the soil, which cleans the water of on a community.
Cedarholm is among a growing pollutants before it reaches local In addition to their practical appli-
number of ecologically minded ew streams, rivers and lakes via storm cations, rain gardens add beauty and
Hampshire residents interested In drains. value to commercial and residential
using the water running off their roofs According to the Rain Garden properties. "A rain garden makes your
in their yards. Water conservation is etwork-an online forum about rain site more sustainable," says Terrence
the primary goal behind rain garden- gardening-these gardens can absorb Parker, principal of Terra Firma
MARCH/APRIL 2009 I NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME 39

3. Landscape Architecture in Portsmouth sh
and a designer of rain gardens for both sci
commercial and residential use. "It's co
more cost-effective in the long term, gr
and the gardens are a visual amenity." "p
it'
WORKING WITH NATURE-AND
ar
TOUGHER BUILDING STANDARDS
w;
Facing tougher state and federal
regulations on potential pollution
(commercial construction projects in
ew Hampshire must treat stormwater aT
runoff from pavements and parking la
lots), developers are seeing rain gardens fi)
as an appealing water-management b<
solution. 01
When Phillips Exeter Academy a
built three faculty houses last year in
Exeter, the homes were designed with tc
a rain garden in mind, says engineer c,
Jeff Clifford of Altus Engineering in w
(603)736-4884 Portsmouth.
(603)545-1779 The runoff from the single-family 1<1
vvvvvv.vvescottdoors.com homes is collected in a boomerang- b
40 NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME I MARCH/APRIL 2009

4. a design / build landscape company
603-929-4628
shaped rain garden adjacent to the
school's athletic fields. The garden-
Y0IA.Y H-OVlA,e ~Y0IA.Y WOyLol
containing mostly wild, ornamental Helping You Create a Beautiful, Earth Friendly, Healthy Home
grasses-is designed to collect and with Our Green Design Center!
"pond" water up to six inches before
it's filtered through the landscape
and an underground drain carries the
water away.
"It's de igned for a one-inch water
depth," Clifford says. The garden is
between two feet and three feet deep, 138 N. Main St - Concord, NH 03301- 6032239867- www.YourHomeYourWorld.com
and there's eighteen inches of soil-
layers of loam, compost and sand-that
filter the water. "It's a perfect location
because the soil is good and the layout
of the project naturally leads the water
away," he says.
However, rain gardens aren't limited
to larger building projects. "Homeowners
can build rain gardens on a small scale
with ornamental appeal," Parker says.
For example, Steve Lewis,.an Atkinson
land-use consultant and builder, has
built two residential communities that
MARCH/APRll2009 I NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME 41

5. incorporate rain-gardening techniques.
The Village at Braemoor Woods in
Salem features maintenance-free rain
gardens, which add to the develop-
ment's appeal. "I use indigenous plants,
like winterberry, in the landscaping,"
Lewis says. "The gardens are meant to
be a bio-cleaning filter, but they're also
very attractive."
BUILDING A RAIN GARDEN
Fortunately for beginning gardeners, a
rain garden doesn't have to be sophisti-
cated, but there are a few points to keep
in mind.
First, locate your rain garden near
the water runoff source. Cedarholm-
who built the Durham DPW rain
garden on Earth Day 2007 with his
family-located the garden near the
downspout of the building's gutter. The
most important time to treat stormwa-
ter runoff is during the first ten minutes
of a rainstorm. "That's when you get silt
Future
603-329 -8113
www.mancusibuilders.com
•
42 NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME I MARCH/APRIL 2009

6. from fue roof and junk off the road in
the water," Cedarholm says.
Second, be sure to consider the soil
type. The area around the DPW's rain
garden has sandy soil that's permeable
and effective at filtering the rainwater.
Cedarholm also put in layers of loam
and compost to create additional filter-
ing properties.
Third, use plantings native to New
Hampshire climate and soils. Parker
suggests native grasses, ferns, rushes,
echinacea and black-eyed Susans as well
as common plants seen in meadows,
such as milkweed, aster, columbine,
cornAower and irises. "You're designing
your garden for a dry situation, so plants
have to be drought-tolerant," Parker
says. "Plants aren't sustainable if they're
designed for constantly wet situations.
They must be tolerant at both
extremes." Also, the local plants and
MARCH/APRIL 2009 I NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME 43

7. ADVERTISEMENT
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Attached to a downspout, a rain barrel 88'
collects and filters water, storing it for nh
later use in the garden and yard. IllC
RA
Aowers can become butterAy and bird ral
habitats. ST
The Durham Carden Club gave 11
Al
Cedarholm the DPW garden's plant-
3t
his award-winning firm then walk clients through the ings for free. Instead of bark mulch,
T has been featured every-
where, including Signature
Kitchens, Kitchens by Professional
pros and cons of each, offering
guidance and objective opinions
with strong client involvement.
which absorbs water, Cedarholm and
his children placed dinosaur egg-shaped
rocks found in a local quarry around the
T£
AI
4
P,
Designers and Designer Kitchens The designers pride themselves 4:
and Baths magazines, HGTY, and on unique design solutions for plants. "The plants we selected can tol- tf
NECN's "Dream House." Over the each client, and are versed in erate Aooding as well as droughts,"
last fifteen years, they have earned every style option from traditional T
Cedarholm says. "The day lilies and F
more than 100 awards for Best to contemporary. Exotic woods are
irises Aourished." v,
Value and Best Design of Kitchens also an option.
from various organizations, includ- Their designs feature lots of
ing the New Hampshire Home curves and angles for visual ex- THE MANY MISSIONS
U
Builders and Remodelers Associa- citement as well as functionality. OF RAIN GARDENS S
tion, the Signature Executive Net- Many of their layouts feature the Cedarholm's rain garden has proved 7
work, and both Kitchen Aid and sink facing a family room or enter-
successful on several levels. "We use
Sub-Zero appliance companies. tainment area, rather than facing
They have won awards not only out a window, which can be cold [the garden] as a public outreach to dis-
for kitchen design, but for excep- and dark at night. Moving the sink cuss the town's stormwater and water
tional designs in baths, entertain- to face the family room allows the systems," Cedarholm says. "I want
ment centers, closets and more. cook to socialize with family and
everyone to know that this is doable
What sets them apart is that friends easier, allows us to watch
they promise not only beauti- TV while doing the dishes and and good for the environment." He's
ful designs, but pledge to find at allows the chef to be in the center already planning a rain garden for down-
least thirty percent more storage of the family activities while he/ town Durham as well as another behind
space in your kitchen. They give she is preparing meals. Design
homeowners three completely is the key to making any kitchen the public works building.
unique designs for each project, renovation a true success. For Parker, rain gardening is a sim-
ple way to help the environment and
DREAM KITCHENS express individual creativity. "Everyone
139 DANIEL WEBSTER HIGHWAY, NASHUA, NH can do it at their own level," he says.
PH: (603) 891-2916 FX: (603) 891-3590 For gardeners and conservationists
WWW.ADREAMKITCHEN.COM alike, that means a beautiful garden
that puts water in its place. =
44 NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME I MARCH/APRil 2009