Federation Blog

Like knights in shining armor, AARP employees and the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), teamed up with the South River Federation to come to the rescue of three rain gardens! These rain gardens, or bio-retention areas, were installed at the MDA on Truman Parkway in 2007 to address stormwater runoff from parts of the parkway and the parking lots of the MDA complex. The three rain gardens, which cover over 4,000 square feet combined, treat 1.4 acres of impervious surface.

Normally, we hope for cool, dry weather during a cleanup. However, with Tropical Storm Lee on its way out of our area, we had anything but a dry day! The rainy weather did not discourage the hard working AARP volunteers or the MDA employees from working for four hours to remove invasives or clean out the rocky swales leading into the gardens. The best part, and perhaps the most important part, is that working in heavy rain allowed us to see how the rain gardens actually worked. The rain also highlighted the importance of continued maintenance of the rain gardens. When it began to rain, we noticed that some of the rain water was not flowing into the gardens because the swales had become filled with sediment or the stones had moved not allowing the water to pass. The volunteers removed the excess sediment and fixed the stones to redirect flow back into the rain gardens.

Our biggest surprise of the day was the middle rain garden, or the lack of the middle rain garden! Damage to a pipe under the storm drain had caused an enormous sink hole to form engulfing the center of the garden. We reported the sink hole to the county and they will be taking care of the repairs.

Thank you again to our courageous knights of AARP and MDA’s Gaye Williams for making this day possible!

What is a rain garden?

How is a rain garden different from any other garden? Rain gardens are bio-retention sites specially designed to handle and treat stormwater. First, the area is excavated to remove existing soils. Once removed, the area is filled with a sand and compost mixture. Storm drains are cut to fit high water levels. You want the storm drains to sit above ground level so that the stormwater stays in the garden and does not go directly down the drain. The stormwater drains only catch the rain during higher water levels. Finally, the garden is planted with native plants that help to absorb stormwater. With all the hard work that went into making this garden, we want to keep up with the maintenance!