Federation Blog

Thanks to the generous support of the Chesapeake Bay Trust and several individuals living on Beard's Creek, the Federation will be installing over 10 rain gardens throughout the Beard's Creek watershed, from Edgewater Beach to Annapolis Landing.  Several more will be going in over the next week or so, but here are 3 recently installed gardens in Edgewater Beach, Shaded Section.

The first garden, below, captures runoff from a community roadway and infiltrates it into the ground.

The second garden has has a downspout diverted into it and will now capture water that had been running down the driveway into the road.

The third garden involved a curb cut, and now captures water that was previously delivered into a pipe system and discharged into the road.

The same day that some Federation volunteers were planting marsh grasses in London Towne, others were planting a recently installed rain garden designed to capture stormwater above Harness Creek. The project was funded with a generous mini grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and is aimed at protecting tidal wetland habitat around Harness Creek.   The rain garden is approximately 675 sq/ft, and captures the runoff from several large homes near the waterfront.  

Below, Federation volunteers Kevin Green and John Flood plant wetland shrubs and herbaceous vegetation in the rain garden.

Below is a picture of the finished rain garden shortly after a storm.

Late last year we finished weeding and planting rain gardens that the Federation and church had installed at Riva Trace Baptist Church on Central Ave (Rt. 214).  This spring we get to reap the rewards.

The area is dominated by very clay soils, which are common throughout Edgewater, and as a result, the gardens as initially installed took some time to drain.  This led to some of the plants that had originally been installed rotting, and weeds, like Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) moving in to the beds.  After a vigorous weeding, Federation volunteers installed plants that can tolerate wetter feet, such as common rush (Juncus effusus), three-square (Scirpus americanus), and blue flag iris (Iris versicolor).  As you can see below, these species, and several other species of rushes which have recruited naturally on the site, appear to be pretty happy.