“We
were hav-ing
a problem
with the rainwa-ter,”
Margaret says.
“It would all come
flowing down the street,
into our driveway, and into
the creek. It was a lot of water.
This was a way to help us deal
with all that water and keep it from
going into the creek.”
The garden is in a depression with
sloped sides. It’s intended to hold stormwater
until it can be absorbed into the ground rather
than allowing it to run off.
“The goal is to handle rainwater on site,” says Beth
Sheppard, owner of landscape company Secret Gardener
and designer of the Martins’ garden. “This is a creative,
functional opportunity for sustainable landscaping, to keep the
stormwater that falls on your property, and environmentally take
care of it. It’s where my passion is. I like to help people do something
that’s good for the environment.”
The Martins have what is called a rain garden,
but they go by different names: ocean-friendly
gardens, vegetative swales, bioretention areas.
Whatever they are called, the aim is the same.
“The purpose of all of them is twofold,” says Tracy Skrabal, manager of the North Carolina
Coastal Federation’s regional office in Wrightsville Beach. “No. 1, to help us infiltrate stormwa-ter
into the ground so it doesn’t ever reach our surface waters. But also it’s a great opportunity to
increase our native plants for critters.”
The problem with stormwater is that it carries pollutants. When it runs unchecked, it picks up all
kinds of nasty things.
“The No. 1 pollutant in New Hanover County is animal waste,” says Dru Harrison, director and com-munity
conservationist for the New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District. “The top six are pet waste,
sediment, fertilizer, pesticides, litter and liquids from cars.”
These are what is being washed into our streets and stormdrains everytime it rains. From there the water goes
into creeks, rivers and the ocean. In cases like the Martins’ before they installed their rain garden, it bypasses the
drains and runs directly into the waterways.
Top: The native plants in the Martins’ rain garden are both beautiful and functional. They help hold in water, allowing it
to soak into the ground rather than pour into Hewletts Creek, behind the house. Bottom: Best practices for stormwater
management used to mean directing everything into drains and waterways. Now, municipalities recognize the need to
contain it in natural bioretention areas.
44
WBM june 2017