by Paul Kwiatkowski

Mount Auburn is not only America’s first garden cemetery, but an arboretum with more than 6,000 trees from around the globe. For those of you who have had the opportunity to visit and explore the grounds, I hope you were so entranced by the trees, gardens, monuments, and wildlife that many return visits have been required. Those of you who have not discovered Mount Auburn yet, I hope you visit soon.

We strive whenever and wherever we can to improve how we maintain our 175-acre institution. In 2004, we began collecting rainwater for irrigation to reduce our water consumption and limit the storm water impact on our drainage system. Today, we are experimenting with propane as an alternative fuel to power a portion of our lawnmower fleet. But one of our greatest concerns has been what do we do with the waste generated by our grounds maintenance. We would rather not need to have material hauled off site. It makes much more sense to reuse material and become a net zero waste facility.

Steps Toward Zero Waste

On this front, we have made great strides over the past several years. We allocated a portion of our property to become a recycling center. In this area, we constructed a series of bins to hold grounds waste, pea stone, sand, gravel, asphalt, concrete, interment fill, compost, loam, hard and softwood, as well as paper, cardboard, glass and plastic recycling. We are also able to store woodchips from arbor work on our tree collection, leaves, and mulch. The mulch is made on site by double grinding aged leaves and woodchips. This initiative is important because we no longer need to buy mulch, and we are reducing waste.

Mount Auburn's recycling center provides bins for all the different materials generated on site.

Compost creation has been the single biggest adjustment we have made towards our goal of zero waste, and its ripple effects are felt in many ways. For example, we can use finished compost to amend soil in order to improve grass seed germination. Gardens and turf can be top-dressed to enhance the biological diversity and activity in the soil, reducing fertilizer and irrigation requirements. Radial trenching can be performed within the drip zone of a stressed tree’s canopy to again improve diversity and activity of the biology in the root zone. To prevent erosion on slopes, we utilize compost filter socks that can be directly planted in. Potting mix, made at our greenhouse, reduces the amounts of purchased potting mix and fertilizers and also reduces our water consumption. Finally, we can make compost tea for foliar applications and soil drenches on young ornamental trees to protect them from pests and diseases and to stimulate growth.

Composting Considerations

The composting process is not difficult. However, it is important to be aware of several factors.

Pile size: Most people will make compost by pile or windrow. Compost windrows usually are much larger in scale and used in commercial production or large agriculture. At Mount Auburn, we use the pile method. The pile should always be a manageable size. When using an earth mover, such as a front-end loader or back hoe, the pile should be no more than eight feet high to ensure that the pile can be easily and safely turned. A backyard gardener should keep the pile within three to four feet tall when turning by hand.

Proper turning provides aeration to support beneficial microorganisms.

Moisture: The compost pile should be damp, not wet or saturated with moisture. This provides a healthy environment for beneficial microbial development and prevents anaerobic bacteria from colonizing in the pile. There may be times during periods of drought when the pile needs to be watered by hand or sprinkler. In heavy precipitation periods, the pile may need to be covered with a tarp.

Aeration: The pile must be turned to keep the compost aerated for beneficial microorganisms to build healthy, diverse populations and to prevent anaerobic bacteria from developing in the pile.

Temperature: A compost pile must reach and maintain a temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit for three consecutive days to kill weed seed and pathogens that may have been in the feedstock. Windrows must maintain 131˚F for seven consecutive days.

This active mix compost for woodland plants utilizes a fungal recipe: two parts carbon to one part nitrogen.

Feedstock and recipe: To determine what you will need to make your compost, you must decide what you will use the compost for. A fungal recipe will consist of two parts carbon or brown material (dry leaves, woodchips, straw) and one part nitrogen or green material (grass clippings, coffee grounds, tea leaves, fresh shrub pruning). Fungal compost may be used for woodland plant material, such as trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and other woodland plants. A bacterial compost recipe will consist of two parts green material to one part brown and may be used for annuals, turf, vegetables, and many herbaceous garden perennials. In the recycling center, we have separate bins for green and brown feedstock and for fungal and bacterial compost mixes.

The Process

Once the recipe and feedstock has been decided upon, the composting process is ready to begin. The pile should be turned five times in the first 15 days upon establishment. Monitor temperature, aeration, and moisture. After 15 days, the pile can be turned less often as it will finish cooking and begin the cooling down period. The compost may be used when it reaches ambient temperature. Do not use unfinished compost as it may burn the roots of plants it is incorporated around. Finished compost will have a deep earthy color and aroma.

An institution most likely will want to screen the finished compost before using it on the grounds to remove larger material which may not have broken down as quickly as the majority of the pile. Most backyard gardeners can make do without screening by simply remove the largest material by hand.

Mount Auburn Cemetery makes 100 yards of compost every year and the subtraction of waste creates a healthy addition to our environment, while establishing a more efficient and dynamic grounds maintenance program.

About the Author

Paul Kwiatkowski is a Conservationist and Assistant Greenhouse Manager at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.  He has worked on many landscape and aquatic restoration and habitat improvement projects over the past 14 years and is one of the architects of Mount Auburn’s sustainable reforms.

by Jeff Lowenfels

Authors spend a lot of time by themselves, as was abundantly apparent when I got a chance to Keynote at the ELA’s 2013 Conference on the subject matter of my new book, Teaming With Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition. I found myself gushing with excitement as I was able to finally share the wonders of plant cells and their workings with someone other than Gracie, our inquisitive, but not that intelligent English Shorthaired Pointer.

And now I find myself once again alone, save for Gracie, suffering the embarrassment of my demonstrated enthusiasm at the annual Conference. In post mortem, there were two more points I wanted to make aside from the sheer wonder we should have for plants.

What could be new in plant science? Lots!

Keeping Up with the Science

The first is that we all have to remember science is not static even though we often treat it as such. We know this when it comes to other aspects of our lives, such as with advances in healthcare or electronic communications, but sometimes forget when it comes to things that grow. What could be new?

In this country, the assumption seems to be you learned chemistry and biology in high school and took botany somewhere in college and that is all you need to know about plants for the rest of your life.  What you learned works and what more is needed?

Or you may think, as so many do, that what new information you need to learn will come from the New York Times, NPR, Huffington or Drudge or in the ELA Newsletter. What more science do you need to learn?

The truth, of course, is you need to learn anything new that is going to make you a better practitioner of your art (or should I say science).

A case in point: In late February I was jumping up and down on ELA’s stage discussing IMPs, integrated membrane proteins. These cellular structures punctuate the plasmaderma, the membrane surrounding every plant cell (just inside the cell wall if your Apple Maps is not working). I was excited by the amount of energy a plant has to expend in order to build and place these proteins – proteins which are necessary to allow the very nutrients that make them up into the cell in the first instance. (It is all too wonderful, but you can read about it in Teaming With Nutrients).

Ah, but just a few weeks ago comes along an article that discusses how these proteins are constructed. Another reveals how special sugar base lipids (Okay, you made me say it: Glycosylphosphatidylinositols) serve as anchors for some of these “IMPs” and how they bring some order to the plasma (think your computer screen) that is a cell membrane.

Research around sugar base lipids affects our understanding of their function in the cell membrane and affects how we should feed plants.

This is amazing stuff that should result in a much greater appreciation of that lilac which contains 10 or more trillion of these Glycosylphos- phatidylinositols punctuated membranes. These kinds of discoveries are being made all the time. Just check out “50 Years of Protein Structure Determination” at http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/psi/timeline.html. I point to proteins because so much of what we feed a plant is used to produce them. (One cell can have 10,000 different kinds and 1,000 of each kind. Then, times that by 10 trillion in that lilac). That is where the nitrogen goes. And we need to know these things as intellectual beings.

Making Use of What You Learn

The second point is that knowing these things just for the sake of knowing is indeed a noble thing. No one should let his or her professional mind (at least) stagnate. That is what continuing education and the Internet are both for. But, it’s putting this knowledge to practical use that counts.

So, for example, those that Glycosylphosphatidylinositols form patches in the plasmaderma, literally described as rafts floating. They communicate with other cells. When these patches are destroyed, the cell does not do well and eventually fails. Perhaps somewhere there is a way to impact the construction of that lilac which contains 10 or more trillion of these Glycosylphosphatidylinositols that will be of great use.

Which brings me to what should have been my main Keynote point (had Gracie told me while practicing my Keynote and had she not had such a preference for Dr. Seuss): If you don’t know about the advances science is making in general, but especially when it comes to your professional industry, then you can’t impact how these discoveries are used until, perhaps, it is too late. Without keeping your knowledge base current, how can you participate in discussions that mold what we do and how we do it?

It’s not just scientific advances in plant cellular biology, which, I admit now that I am alone, may be exciting to me, but is a bit of an obscure subject to discuss in public. It’s topics such Native vs. Non Native or GMOs versus none that require this new science in order to understand the discussion, nonetheless participate in the debates.

Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of science available that you didn’t learn in college simply because it wasn’t known (not to mention the stuff you were supposed to learn, but didn’t!). Still, we live in a world where information is all around us, literally at our fingertips. There is no reason we should stop learning science just because we graduated from school. Of course, you can get lonely if you spend too much time in front of that computer screen.

About the Author

Jeff Lowenfels is the author of Teaming With Microbes and now Teaming With Nutrients, both from Timber Press. He is a lonely guy who loves to lecture on the soil food web and cellular biology. Contact him at jeff.lowenfels@gmail.com.

Earth Day 2013 was a special day for Trevor Smith, ELA’s VP and owner of Land Escapes. After 10 days of intense activity, six living walls designed by Trevor were unveiled Monday, April 22, on NBC’s Today Show.

The herb wall became a source for herbs during the Earth Day cooking demonstration.

When the Today Show contacted George Irwin at Green Living Technologies International (GLTi) about included living walls in their Earth Day program, Irwin turned to Trevor to design and create the six freestanding 4’ by 8’ panels that would showcase GLTi’s wall systems. One edible wall design was requested for a cooking segment by chef Giada De Laurentiis to provide fresh herbs for salad, pesto, and beverage. The other five ornamental walls would appear as backdrops throughout the program.

The wall featuring a butterfly design incorporated succulents and violas.

After receiving a phone call late on a Friday night that confirmed the project, Trevor quickly designed the panels and gathered materials. After completing design concepts, Trevor and partner Christina Donovan prepped the wall panels which included a large purple butterfly motif on one set of panels and painting the herb wall panels with black chalkboard paint for plant labeling.

The completed butterfly wall was used as a backdrop Earth Day themed fashion show.

Following the prep, there ensued four days of planting. With little lead time, Trevor’s wholesale greenhouse connections, with readily available plant material, allowed for selection of well-chosen colors and textures to complement the designs. The butterfly panel popped with purple and bronze viola wings and a body created from fist-sized sedum. Deep burgundy coleus became the trunk of a tree and chartreuse coleus and pink begonias became a blooming tree canopy.

Trevor and Penny Lewis, ELA Executive Director, add finishing touches to the “tree” panels.

Coleus and begonias create the effect of a living tree used as a general backdrop on the Earth Day Today Show.

With all the plantings in place, the walls were packed up and delivered to Rockefeller Plaza, New York, for assembly in the early hours on April 22.

An aerial view of a woodland forest inspired a design complete with flowing stream.

After the show, all the panels were donated to Green Bronx Machine. If you missed the Earth Day Today Show, you can view excerpts on Trevor’s website: www.livingwallsboston.com.

Editor’s Note: In addition to living walls, Trevor creates chemical-free, natural swimming ponds. He will conduct a tour of one of his projects in Sandwich, MA, on June 5. View the pdf with details.

by Frank Crandall

A major issue facing many small businesses, especially horticultural firms, is attracting quality employees and then finding ways to retain them. Lack of good employees will limit the growth of your company; however, hiring the right employees will provide you with the opportunity to assemble a winning team. With a team of dedicated, talented, and motivated employees, there are no limits to what your business can achieve.

Gathering an award-winning team requires a sustained, focused, and year-round commitment to attract, hire, and retain valuable employees. It is not an easy or quick process, but the results will be worth it. Building your team will also require the letting-go of certain employees who do not share the values of your company or who display overt (or covert) negativity that affects team morale and client relations. Even though many times the “bad apple” employee is a good worker and dependable, behind the scenes they are destroying the morale of your company…which you may not find out until it is too late.

Adding to the Company Family

The main goal in hiring is to look for talented, motivated, and exceptional people who share your firm’s values; can align themselves with your management philosophy, mission, and vision; and will thrive personally and professionally within your company culture. For many small businesses, hiring an employee is like adding a member to your family, and the selection process needs to be designed to ensure a match between employee and your company.

Although there is no magic formula for building a winning team, I have successfully used the following seven steps.

Seven Steps to Building a Winning Team

1. Establish a positive, friendly, supportive company culture. Successful companies demonstrate a team spirit and have a family-like environment. Their company culture is a reflection of established values backed by a positive, friendly, and supportive lifestyle. By hiring employees who embrace your mission and values, the team can flourish, and contribute to overall company success.

A dictatorial management style may undermine your company's success.

The owner sets the tone for the business by fostering the friendly, supportive environment. Acting as a coach (rather than a dictator), the owner can motivate, encourage, and set up employees for success rather than demand performance without providing the support and tools to succeed.

2. Implement a participatory management system. Primary to an employee’s continued success is having a role and voice in the decision-making process. Utilizing a participatory management system can contribute to a supportive culture that involves employees in important company decisions and creates a source of new ideas. With a vested interest in the company and future plans, employees can move ahead with personal expectations of success and responsibility for changes adopted.

3. Project a professional image of your company. The image of your company is important for prospective employees as well as current staff members, clients, vendors, and the community. Your company persona can be a key factor in attracting talented and motivated new employees. Building a strong brand that represents quality, integrity, and service will entice qualified people to seek employment with your company. All your team members need to be dedicated to your brand.

4. Be specific about job requirements. Having detailed, clear job descriptions can be very useful in attracting and hiring new, quality employees. After analyzing your company’s staffing needs, carefully design ads to attract the desired employees. I have found that by creating new job titles and descriptions (for example landscape apprentice, landscape craftsman, team leader and team manager), I have been able to solicit more talented, interested, and motivated job applicants. Many horticultural employees want to make this field a career and providing appropriate, interesting job descriptions and titles will improve your chances of hiring dependable and long-term employees.

5. Network to locate new personnel. Finding new employees is a year-round commitment, not just the result of placing an ad in the local paper in March and hoping for best. Network at trade shows and at your local universities. Encourage referrals from people you know, especially your own employees. They know the type of work your company does, the work effort that is needed, and the current team chemistry. You can help protect your choices by establishing a probationary period (I use a 90 day period) that allows you (and the employee) to see if the job and company are a fit.

6. Offer competitive compensation and health benefits. Instrumental to attracting and retaining key employees is a competitive pay scale. I have assigned specific pay rates to each job title, description, and level. All of these rates are in the upper 10% of comparable landscape firms in New England. Although a substantial investment, offering health insurance is vital to retaining employees. Due to substantial cost increases, I settled on a 50/50 split of the yearly cost between the company and employee.

7. Keep your team motivated! I do strongly believe that employees can be encouraged, motivated, and trained to be more productive, efficient, and valuable to your company. The best two words you can use to motivate employees to complete a project, to make a special effort, to receive client compliments, to solve a problem, or to make suggestions to improve the company are “Thank You.” I want all my employees, their families, and our vendors to know their efforts are sincerely appreciated. You will be amazed at the results generated from positive reinforcement – as opposed to their reaction to undue criticism, manager negativity, and lack of recognition.

Don't let a bad apple infect your company with negativity.

Although there are many more steps I could discuss, one final suggestion will accent the previous steps. Try to eliminate negativity from your company. The letting go of the “bad apples,” even though they may be dependable workers, will raise the morale of your company tremendously and save you from collateral damage down the road. The result will be a cohesive, highly productive team that will allow your company to achieve greater success than was possible with negative influences of certain employees.

Whereas the lack of good employees can limit your growth and success, the building of a cohesive team will allow you to tackle numerous projects and achieve successes beyond your expectations. And building that team takes time, a year-round commitment, a willingness to let some workers go for the benefit of the team, and creation of a company culture that is helpful, supportive, enjoyable, and a clear representation of the company’s values. The owner sets the tone through his or her actions, philosophy, and vision. Once a true team is developed, the main component of success is in place!

About the Author

Frank Crandall owns Frank Crandall, Horticultural Solutions, a southern RI based company that specializes in coastal landscaping, organic land care, small business consulting, writing, speaking and photography. Frank just published his third book, Creating a More Peaceful, Happy and Successful Life! For information about his services and books view Frank’s website, www.FrankCrandall3.com or contact him at FrankCrandall3@gmail.com.

by Heather Faubert

Impatiens downy mildew has changed our view of impatiens (Impatiens walleriana). I think no impatiens should be planted in the Northeast, or anywhere, except in very arid locations such as the Midwest. I heard of many landscapers replacing customers’ impatiens at the landscapers’ expense, once the plants succumbed to downy mildew in 2012. Don’t let this happen to you in 2013.

Impatiens downy mildew may look like white down on the underside of primarily yellow Impatiens leaves, but can also be found on the underside of green leaves. Photo courtesy Tina Smith, UMass Extension.

Impatiens downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara obducens, attacked many New England gardens in 2012. In 2011, the disease was first seen in landscapes in eleven states including Massachusetts and New York. In 2012, impatiens downy mildew was found in 33 states including all New England states. On Long Island, near where it was found in 2011, diseased plants were found in early June, 2012.

Impatiens walleriana are susceptible to downy mildew. Photo courtesy Tina Smith, UMass Extension.

This disease affects all Impatiens walleriana plants (garden impatiens, double impatiens, mini-impatiens, and the I. walleriana interspecific hybrids Fusion® and Butterfly® impatiens), as well as I. balsamina (commonly known balsam impatiens). It does not attack New Guinea impatiens, Impatiens hawkeri.

Signs of Disease

Downy mildew symptoms typically start with a few yellow or off color leaves that become completely yellow over time. Green or yellow leaves may also curl downward. Infected young plants will be stunted, while mature plants drop leaves and flowers with only a few small leaves remaining on bare stems. A white, downy-like growth may be visible on the underside of infected leaves under cool temperatures (about 60 to 73F) and moist or humid conditions. The white growth is actually spores which can be blown or splashed around and cause more infections.

Only four hours of leaf wetness are needed to initiate new infections. The time from infection to the appearance of symptoms varies from about five to 14 days depending on the age of plant tissue, temperature and humidity. Due to this latency period, infected plants can be shipped and planted without showing any disease symptoms.

Infected plants suffer from early leaf drop. Photo courtesy Tina Smith, UMass Extension.

Impatiens downy mildew is here to stay because it overwinters as oospores and also infects our native jewelweed, I. capensis, though so far, symptoms have been mild. Also, many uninformed gardeners will probably plant impatiens this spring, so there will be plenty of Impatiens walleriana plants to infect and spread the disease.

Let’s see this disease as an opportunity for landscapers to educate their customers and the public and not contribute to the problem!

For more information, refer to:
http://extension.umass.edu/floriculture/fact-sheets/impatiens-downy-mildew

http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/sites/landscape/files/publications/impatiens_downy_mildew_12.pdf

http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/news/impatiens-downy-mildew-confirmed-massachusetts

About the Author

Heather Faubert is a Research Assistant at University of Rhode Island Greenhouse. She may be reached at hhf@uri.edu.

Editor’s Note: Consider substituting the following annuals in beds that previously held impatiens, or try out a combination of perennials that will bloom throughout the growing season.

Annuals:
Begonias
Torenia
Coleus
Caladiums
Lobelia

Perennials:
Spring blooming – wild blue phlox, tiarella, yellow wood poppy, wild geranium
Summer blooming – downy skullcap, great blue lobelia, black cohosh, cardinal flower
Fall blooming – white wood aster, heart leafed aster, wreath goldenrod

Or peruse the plant lists offered by these institutions:

http://extension.umass.edu/floriculture/sites/floriculture/files/pdf-doc-ppt/Alternatives-to-Garden-ImpatiensCornell.pdf

http://flor.hrt.msu.edu/IDM/mobileindex.htm

The following article is reprinted with the author’s permission from the UMass Amherst Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forestry Program website.

by Craig Hollingsworth

We are seeing a lot of ticks this spring.  They didn’t just hatch: these are adults that have overwintered. Those females that survived the winter did not find hosts and are waiting along the trails for a vertebrate to happen along.  Tick nymphs also overwintered. Nymphs are generally dormant in the spring and most active in mid summer, but some people are finding nymphs feeding on them even now. So the ticks have been here all along, but when people become more active outdoors, we see more tick feeding.

Large numbers of ticks are already in the landscape. Photo courtesy UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture.

Keep in mind when you are in moist areas (or handling piles of wet leaves) that this is where ticks are most likely to be present.  Use DEET or other tick repellents. Shower and conduct a tick check after working or playing outside.  Many tick researchers recommend permethrin-treated clothing: a number of spray products are available, generally in outdoor stores.  Clothing sprayed with permethrin will kill ticks even after a number of launderings.

The UMass Extension Tick Assessment Laboratory can determine whether or not a tick carries the pathogen for Lyme disease and other pathogens. About 30% of the ticks test positive for Lyme disease. In addition about 10% carry Anaplasma, a related bacterium, and 5% carry a malaria-like pathogen called Babesia. Information on submitting a tick for diagnosis can be found at http://www.umass.edu/tick.

About the Author

Craig Hollingsworth, PhD, works at the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture. He may be reached at chollingsworth@umext.umass.edu.

by Kevin Beuttell

Traditionally, stormwater was viewed as a burden on the landscape. Water was typically taken away through channels and pipes as quickly as possible to avoid flooding on site. Today, we know water and ecological quality can be improved when water is allowed to infiltrate, using it as a resource where it falls. It is now widely understood that rain gardens use the natural capacities of soil and vegetation to retain and cleanse stormwater as it infiltrates. Appropriate maintenance activities that ensure these landscapes maintain their ornamental appearance and critical environmental functions are less well known, however.

This rain garden in Nelson Memorial Park (Plymouth, MA) cleanses the water from an adjacent parking lot and reuses water running off from the spray-play area. The grassland plants here are flourishing even with the salt spray coming from Plymouth Harbor.

Many rain gardens fail to live up to their full potential because of inadequate maintenance. The responsibility for this situation lies as much with the designer as those directly in charge of maintenance. Ideally adaptive management would be the standard, but we must plan for the typical scenario of landscape crews that do not have the time, knowledge, or budget to carry out a comprehensive maintenance program. To ensure long-term success, it is critical to design rain gardens in ways that require minimal maintenance and help retain their attractive appearance.

The Maintenance Advantages of Grassland Plant Communities

Rain gardens modeled on grassland systems are particularly well suited to this low maintenance design approach. A plant community of herbaceous perennial grasses and wildflowers offers the following advantages:

• Vegetation maintenance consists of mowing and little else. Mowing is a simple non-selective technique that is applied to all the plants in the community. A single annual event of mowing down the previous year’s growth is all that is typically needed to clear the way for the current season’s growth to begin neatly and cleanly, and also keeps weeds under control.

Over time, a thatch layer may develop at the soil surface that keeps the wildflowers from self-seeding effectively, slowly leading to the dominance of the grasses. The presence of thatch has no effect on infiltration performance, but in order to keep the balance from an aesthetic and habitat point of view, supplemental wildflower plantings may be added every few years. Alternatively the thatch can be raked away immediately following the annual mowing.

• No watering or fertilization is needed. These plants thrive during summer droughts, maintaining their ornamental qualities without the need for supplemental irrigation.

• Healthy grasses actively promote and maintain a healthy soil environment. From a soil health and permeability perspective, grasses are the most important component of a rain garden planting. Most of the biomass of grasses is below ground in the roots, even at the height of the growing season. Approximately one-third of a grass root system dies annually, which helps to maintain a good soil structure and porosity (even through slowly accumulating sediment) by providing a continuous source of organic matter. Organic matter is a critical component of healthy topsoil. Organic matter contributes to soil aggregate formation, influences the amount of water available to plants, stores nutrients, and sustains the growth of soil microbes. Aggregate formation is particularly relevant to maintaining soil permeability, which is clearly relevant to stormwater infiltration.

Grassland communities in rain garden applications offer other benefits beyond maintenance as well.

• They create habitat. Designs that provide a diverse assemblage of native species create habitat opportunities for many other organisms.
• They optimize water quality improvement. Grasslands have more root biomass than woodland or shrub plant communities. Studies have shown that nutrient removal is directly related to root density.
• They are beautiful. Some of our most reliable, adaptable, and attractive plants come from our native grasslands. Rain garden aesthetics are critical. Because we cannot see the ecological functioning of the root systems, the water infiltrating through soil, or wildlife’s benefits from the landscape, it is difficult to include an ecological assessment in our judgment of landscape’s appearance. As a result, rain gardens are not economically or socially sustainable if they are not also attractive.

Managing the First Flush and Sediments

In many cities, rain gardens are planted in parking lot islands, thanks to their especially impervious surroundings. But parking lot islands are probably the most challenging environment for a rain garden installation. The first flush of runoff generated in summer can be extremely hot and carry oil and other pollutants. In colder climates like that of Massachusetts, deicing salts and their persistence in the soil are another concern. The first flush of pavement runoff carries a relatively concentrated amount of oils and other contaminants that accumulate on the surface of the pavement between storms. The combination of heat and pollutants severely compromises the quality of water directed into parking lot islands.

This rain garden in Nelson Memorial Park (Plymouth, MA) cleanses the water from an adjacent parking lot, and reuses water running off from the spray-play area. The grassland plants here are flourishing even with the salt spray coming from Plymouth Harbor.

A small infiltration trench (potentially top-dressed with more ornamental stone) located between paved surfaces and the rain garden serves as an energy dissipation and bypass strategy to keep the first flush away from the ornamental landscape. The infiltration trench can also serve as a trap for sands and other sediments. By sequestering sediments in this limited and easily accessible area, their removal is a relatively easy part of an annual maintenance program. If a water-permeable geotextile fabric is placed under the first few inches of stone, the removal of sediments is even easier. The fabric can be lifted, and the sediments separated from the stone. Then new fabric and the cleaned stones are returned on top of the trench.

Ecological Citizenship

Public participation is another important consideration in rain garden establishment and maintenance. Involving local stakeholders is these activities offers one of the best opportunities to foster a sense of ecological citizenship. Rain gardens are restorative landscapes that use the natural capacities of soil and vegetation to retain, cleanse, and infiltrate stormwater.  Public participation in rain garden establishment and maintenance amounts to public participation in nature. It is a restoration not only of natural processes, but also of the human cultural relationship with nature. Rain gardens in urban areas are particularly well suited to public participation in nature. It is here where the most people are closest to the most degraded landscapes. Even small projects like individual rain gardens create important opportunities for people to form relationships with their local environment.

About the Author

Kevin Beuttell, MLA, LEED AP, an Associate with Stantec in Boston, MA, has over 13 years of experience in developing sustainable design solutions for a variety of public and private projects. His focus is on site planning, stormwater management, and native plant community restoration. Kevin has designed and overseen the construction of various types of stormwater management systems including stormwater infiltration gardens, naturalized detention basins, stream-bank and shoreline restorations, green roofs, and porous pavements. He may be reached at Kevin.Beuttell@stantec.com.

by Heather D Heimarck

I have always been a map gazer, letting my mind wander along the mountain ridges and rivers of the world. Recently, I have taken up a study on the history of cartography, how each map reflects a worldview, a “cosmology” of the planet. The connection between human habitation, expansion, and commerce to the winds and the global currents is now largely forgotten, our ability to travel is so unfettered, but in essence global currents are how the Europeans navigated past the Cape of Good Hope and the secrets of the Arabian Sea were revealed, leading to commerce and to the next sea, and the next.

Further back still is the shift from nomadic tribes to sedentary societies. The Natufians, an early sedentary society, are credited with the cultivation of wild grasses in the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean littoral edge) as early as 12,000 BC. The shift to living and cultivating one area year round, changed the relationship between man, animal, plant, shelter and water. Once man domesticated animals and developed agriculture, the next step was moving from dryland farming (rain-fed crops) to irrigated crops, harnessing water resources.

A Developing Relationship with Water

The availability of potable water, water fit for irrigation and sanitation, became a determining factor in where cities would grow, the routes of overland trade passages, and, ultimately, the size of settlements. Shahs, emperors, military generals, railroad tycoons and the like, have all understood, whoever controlled the water supply, controlled the people. The central role of water in world history is complex, but two vital functions are easily identified, sustaining life and sanitation. The World Bank suggests that food production and water management is a global issue of rapidly increasing importance. Looking through a historical lens, one can readily see how infrastructure of a society, especially as it pertains to water, reflects the cultural values of that society.

Taking a great step forward, to the modern day, it is almost baffling to consider that despite our early, and in fact present-day dependency on access to untainted water, that water has become an invisible commodity, something taken for granted, something available on demand without economy. And in great storm water swells, water is something that poses a problem, a destructive force that needs to be contained, restrained, and defended against. Nonetheless, there is a “water consciousness” or awakening afoot. There are two wonderful examples, one from ancient Egypt, 1800 BC, and the second from 21^st century Holland. These two projects bear a strong resemblance to one another. Both demonstrate a shift from the “water problem” mentality to the “water advantage” mentality, working with seasonal swells and storm surges to the advantage of human habitation.

Fertile land along the Nile River supports lush vegetation. Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Flooding vs Reclamation

Egyptian Pharaoh Amenemhet III used the flooding of the Nile to inundate low lying agricultural fields. Basin irrigation, the same detention method used by many rice farmers today, linked numerous fields so that the flood waters could be diverted to the desired field. The rich sediments carried in the river’s water fertilized the fields at the same time they were being irrigated by the water. Amenemhet III stored water in a Lake Faiyum for use during dry periods when the water was released to fields connected by immense waterworks. As a result of this organized flooding of fields, the land was highly productive and became the breadbasket of the civilized world. The flooding water was used to create an amenity and to the Egyptians’ advantage.

Oosterscheldedam during a storm. Credit Rens Jacobs/Beeldbank V&W.

Holland, or Netherlands (Dutch for “Low Lands”), is a small, remarkable country. The majority of its population lives on land that is below sea level, including the people of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The country has a long history of land reclamation. They have wrestled terra firma from the sea, in a manner not unlike the filling of the Back Bay in Boston. However, in the wake of a devastating flood in 1953 in which 1,836 people, in Holland alone, were killed overnight due to flood inundation, the Dutch created an impressive sea defense project, collectively called the Delta Works. The Works consist of 13 dam and storm surge barriers, including the Oosterscheldekering, one of the world’s most expensive dams. The Oosterscheldekering completed in 1986, took ten years to build.

Approaching the Future

In the constant dance between the sea, the subsiding land, the rising sea levels, and ongoing maintenance, the Dutch Committee for Durable Coast Development recognized that the country must continually increase safety norms and performance standards. Thus they realized an entirely new approach was called for, and they determined that the southwest river delta area should be used as a water retention area. The result was “Room for the River” an international initiative, begun in 2006, that allows for the periodic flooding of the Rhine Delta.

A scale measures the water level in a polder near Zoetermeer, Netherlands, at near 5.53 meters below seas level. Credit: Vincent vanZeijst.

The plan crosses country boundaries and includes four rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, the Ijssel, and the Waal,  that transverse Holland, Germany, France, and portions of Switzerland. Slated for completion in 2015, residents are in the process of being relocated away from these low lands to higher ground, and the low areas are being prepared for periodic inundation, appropriate for agricultural crops, wildlife refuges, and recreation. Not only are the Dutch removing obstacles that kept the water out, such as polders, dams and bridges, they have effectively shifted the focus from sequestration to planned flooding, literally letting the river in.

In contrast, modern cities are full of overhead wires and underground pipes, an infrastructure that is rapidly becoming antiquated. Future cities will look different than they do today. As water consciousness and storm water quality gain seats at the collective bargaining table, land-use planning will change globally, and by so doing, will change our cities and our coasts. Programs such as “Let the River In” are porous models for human habitation and stormwater management.

For additional information:

http://water.worldbank.org/publications/reengaging-agricultural-water-management-challenges-and-options

http://water.worldbank.org/publications/sustaining-water-all-changing-climate-world-bank-group-implementation-progress-report

About the Author

Heather Heimarck, ASLA, MLA, is Director of The Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College. Her professional work spans from large scale urban planning projects such as the Lower Charles River Basin to campus and institutional work such as the award winning Honan Allston Public Library, streetscapes, bike lanes, and residential design. Ms. Heimarck received a MLA from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

Heather Heimarck and Lisa Cowan, ASLA, Landscape Architect with Studioverde, will contribute article to an occasional series that examines water from a variety of perspectives and aesthetics while referring to different regulatory, technological, and design approaches.

by Lisa Stiffler

Originally posted on Sightline Daily, January 22, 2013, by Sightline Fellow Lisa Stiffler, this post is part of the research project: Stormwater Solutions: Curbing Toxic Runoff.

If you’re concerned about water pollution, you’ve likely heard this message: The water that gushes off our roofs, driveways, streets, and landscaped yards is to blame for the bulk of the pollution that dirties Puget Sound and numerous Northwest waterbodies. You probably also know about the most popular stormwater solutions, including rain gardens and other green infrastructure that soak up the filthy water, cleaning it before it reaches sensitive waterways that are home to salmon, frogs, orcas, and other wildlife.

Oily puddle, Flickr user Banalities.

But those two ideas taken together are making some people anxious. If stormwater is the source of such devastating amounts of petroleum and heavy metals, won’t the rain garden in my front yard become a mini toxic waste site that could harm children and pets?

So what exactly is in stormwater? Washington’s Department of Ecology has identified runoff as the prime source of the mercury, lead, copper, petroleum and other dangerous chemicals getting into Puget Sound. (Table ES-1, page 13 of  ”Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound”)* Ecology officials estimate that more than 400 pounds of lead, for example, are being washed into Puget Sound via the stormwater that flows from residential areas.

By tonnage, though, the most significant stormwater pollutants are dirt, oil and grease, nitrogen-containing compounds and phosphorus — not the heavy metals and other stuff that’s scarier from a human health perspective (Table 15, page 205  of  ”Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound”)*. And for the pollutants that you wouldn’t want to come into direct contact with — lead, cancer-causing petroleum pollutants, etc. — nearly all are found in super small concentrations in stormwater.

For residential runoff sampled in the Puget Sound area, pollutants in stormwater were below levels of concern for everything except PCBs and phthalates (a family of plasticizing chemicals added to countless consumer items including lotions, perfumes, and soft plastics such as shower curtains; Table 12, page 191 of  ”Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound”)*, but even these were at tiny concentrations.

Roadside rain garden in Seattle,WA. Courtesy Lisa Stiffler.

The problem isn’t so much with the level of pollution in a given bucket of residential runoff, but the fact that the thousands of miles of roads and countless rooftops create so danged much of it. And yet the pollution is there, so what happens to it when it soaks into a rain garden or similar green stormwater infrastructure? Does it stay in the rain garden, or percolate through it along with the water?

The fate of stormwater pollution

Scientists have answered the question of where runoff pollutants wind up through two types of experiments. They have sampled the runoff flowing into and out of actual rain gardens, and they’ve done laboratory experiments where polluted water is run through a column of soil analogous to a rain garden. (**I’ve listed many of the useful references that I’ve been able to find on stormwater pollution at the end of the post.)

The scientists found that the gardens do a great job catching metal pollutants and oil and grease — in some cases trapping more than 90 percent of the pollutants — keeping them out of streams and lakes where they harm wildlife and contaminate water for swimming, fishing, and other human uses. Rain gardens, often called bioretention systems, swales, or bioswales in the scientific literature, have a mixed record in terms of capturing bacteria based on tests done in the field.

Once the pollutants are trapped in the rain gardens, what happens to them next?

The journal Stormwater published in June a list of possible fates for pollution in stormwater systems. Here’s my adaptation of that list, edited to apply more specifically to rain gardens:

• Volatilization. Pollutants, particularly some of those associated with petroleum or oil and grease, evaporate.
• Sedimentation. In the case of standing water, heavier particles settle into the soil below.
• Adsorption. Certain dissolved pollutants stick to particles floating in the stormwater or settled into the soil.
• Absorption. Stormwater and pollutants soak deeper into the soil. Pollutants may accumulate in the soil, percolate through it with the water, or dissipate through microbial action, adsorption, or volatilization.
• Microbial action. Bacteria and other microorganisms break down pollutants in the water or soil, often into forms that are less environmentally harmful.
• Plant resistance and uptake. Decaying plant material increases adsorption and provides a good habitat for microbes that gobble pollution. Plants may also suck up pollutants from the soil through their roots, though not in large amounts.
• Filtration. Particles are captured by a filter, if one is present.

This is what can happen to the pollutants, but the question is what actually does happen? Let’s look at petroleum chemicals, metals, and bacteria in turn.

Petrol Pollution

One of the most prevalent categories of runoff pollution is oil and grease from leaking cars and spills at gas pumps, vehicle exhaust, and burning wood and fossil fuels. The contaminants include petroleum hydrocarbons, and a category of environmentally hazardous chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs.

Car exhaust, Flickr user eutrophication&hypoxia.

Scientists with the University of Minnesota recently performed experiments in the field and the lab to track PAHs in stormwater systems. They collected more than 70 soil samples from more than 50 rain gardens and bioretention infrastructures in the Twin Cities. The rain gardens were capturing water from various types of land use, including parking lots, roofs, and streets. The researchers found much higher levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in the rain garden versus the non-rain garden soils, but the levels were essentially safe in both: “all soil concentrations were about one thousand times less than regulatory action levels,” the scientists reported.

And what was even more interesting was the fact that the rain garden soil contamination was much less than they expected based on the volume of petroleum hydrocarbons being flushed into the gardens with the runoff. Where were the pollutants going?

To answer that question, the scientists did experiments with naphthalene, one of the PAHs found in rain gardens. They ran naphthalene-contaminated water through simulated rain gardens and discovered that the pollutant was adsorbed by the soil, biodegraded, or taken up by plants. The bottom line: “biodegradation typically destroys the contaminant, rather than simply retaining or transforming the contaminant.”

Other studies similarly have found that bacteria in the soil of rain gardens like to dine on  hydrocarbons. Research published in 2006 in the journal Water Environment Research found that 90 percent of petroleum pollutants were biodegraded by microbes in two to eight days.

And right here in the Northwest, the city of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services has been doing its own testing of rain gardens and other green infrastructure to track pollutants. The bureau found PAHs at all of the rain garden facilities it tested, “but typically at concentrations well below human health guidelines.” Interestingly, when they measured PAHs in non-stormwater soils next to the rain gardens, they found similar amounts of PAHs, suggesting that the pollutants are simply prevalent in many places in the urban environment.

Also keep in mind that many of the stormwater facilities tested by Portland were treating runoff coming from parking lots and roads that are being used by more cars and trucks than your average residential site, so the pollutant loads could be higher than a front-yard rain garden would likely have.

Heavy Metals

Heavy metals found in stormwater include copper, cadmium, lead, mercury, and zinc and come from a wide range of natural and human sources such as vehicle brake pads, aviation fuel, pesticides, and weathered paint. When runoff contaminated with metals streams into a rain garden, multiple studies show that the pollutants are largely adsorbed by particles in the soil and mulch. A small fraction of the metals are taken up by plants.

Spraying pesticides, Flickr user Bryan Gosline.

A 2007 study published in Chemosphere using faux stormwater contaminated with copper, lead, cadmium, and zinc in a lab simulation found that between 88 to 97 percent of the metals were captured in the soil media and up to 3 percent was trapped by plants.

But even if all the metals are being held in the rain garden, it’s still not a large volume of toxics. A 2003 study concluded that it would take about 20 years for rain garden soils soaking up runoff to reach EPA limits for the amount of heavy metals allowed in recycled sewage waste used as compost. Recent research from the University of Minnesota concluded that it would take 76 years or more for rain garden soils to reach saturation, depending on the heavy metal.

But does that mean a dog can safely dig in a rain garden, or a child can tromp through it without concern for their health (the fate of the plants put aside)?

Another way to parse the potential risk is to look at the metals in samples collected from local rain gardens and stormwater ponds. Again, the city of Portland has data from actual rain gardens and swales around the city. King and Kitsap counties in the Puget Sound region have data from the sediment scooped out of stormwater ponds. The ponds are not green infrastructure, are collecting runoff from roads that could have higher traffic than residential areas, and are not vegetated so they’re less likely to be providing some of the natural pollution treatment that occurs in rain gardens. However, the ponds can still provide meaningful information, though their pollution levels could likely be higher than what you’d expect from a rain garden in front of someone’s house that’s capturing roof and residential street runoff.

Here are charts comparing the average concentrations of some heavy metals found in Northwest stormwater ponds and rain gardens. I’ve compared the amounts to Washington’s cleanup standards under the Model Toxics Control Act. These are the cleanup standards for the soil at sites that can then be used for residential or other uses. I’ve also included the amount of pollution that is allowed in compost that can be used in Washington under the WSDA International Organic Program. Both provide benchmarks for what is considered safe to humans.

As you can see, the amount of metal contamination in the stormwater ponds and rain gardens is well below safety standards used in Washington State.

Here are the data again in a table:

Bacteria and Viruses

Microorganisms in stormwater are eliminated numerous ways. An army of tiny creatures living in the water and soil including zooplankton, protozoa, nanoflagellates, microflagellates, amoeba, and bacteria will prey upon the offending microorganisms, which include viruses and other bacteria and protozoa. Sunlight can kill or inactivate some of the microorganisms.

No dog poop to drain, Flickr user Sweet One.

Despite the numerous paths to destruction, microorganisms in stormwater are tricky. Unlike pollutants such as oil and grease and metals, green stormwater infrastructure doesn’t have such a stellar track record for capturing and removing bacteria. It appears to be more readily destroyed when it’s in the water, but more likely to survive in the soil. When researchers measure the amount of bacteria entering and exiting a rain garden out in the field, sometimes the water leaves the rain garden with even higher levels of bacteria than entered it, and in other cases 90 percent of the bacteria are removed. Some experts have suggested that the waste from birds, pets, and other wildlife recontaminate the water that’s leaving the rain garden.

Of course there are bacteria and other microorganisms everywhere, all the time, and most of them don’t hurt people. So the real concern is whether the microbes washed into rain gardens pose an actual risk to humans. A lengthy 2007 study from the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) determined that bacteria and viruses that can make people sick have been detected in stormwater samples (Table 2-4). But when they tried to make a link between stormwater pathogens and actual cases of illness, the scientists concluded “the literature does not support widely applicable and defensible relations between pathogens and indicators in stormwater…” (page 2-13).

A Puget Sound area stormwater expert I spoke with explained the risk like this. If the water in question was coming from leaking septic systems or sewers, that waste would include human pathogens and bacteria and would be much more likely to cause illness in people. However, the bacteria found in stormwater most often comes from birds and wildlife, so the risk to humans is much lower.

Tallying the Toxics

Rain gardens and similar environmentally friendly stormwater infrastructure are being embraced worldwide because they do their job so well. They sponge up polluted runoff, keeping the foul chemicals out of the places that are home to beloved wildlife and where people like to play and fish.

The worry is that these same, very efficient rain gardens that are cropping up in our parking strips and front yards are doing their job so well that they could become residential toxic sites. But in fact are they? Not according to the research that’s available. Here’s the score on pollutants in rain gardens, in summary:

Petroleum pollutants/PAHs: Studies from the field and laboratory find that rain gardens do a great job of capturing petroleum pollution, and that the chemicals are largely eliminated when they’re destroyed by bacteria in the soil.

Heavy metals: Soil and mulch in rain gardens contain particles that will adsorb and hold metals including copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc. A small fraction of the metals are sucked into plant roots and vegetation. While metals are not degraded in rain gardens, they’re present at very low levels. When Northwest counties test for metals in the sediment that’s scooped from the bottom of stormwater ponds or rain gardens that drain parking lots and other city surfaces — material that would likely have higher levels of metals than your average residential rain garden — they found that the contamination levels were still below soil and compost standards meant to protect human health.

Bacteria and viruses: While some research has found bacteria and viruses that can cause disease in humans in stormwater, sunlight as well as other microorganisms in the runoff and soil of rain gardens can destroy the pathogens. Also, most of the microorganisms present come from animal waste and are less likely to cause illness in people.

The bottom line is that the soil in rain gardens is safe for kids and pets. That said, people are advised to wash their hands after working or playing in any soil, which can contain naturally occurring metals, fecal waste from the neighbor’s dog, or any number of compounds one wouldn’t want to ingest. And remember that while rain gardens are attractive landscape features, the plants and soil are also doing an important job, so they need to be treated with some care.

Endnotes

*In recent years, Washington regulators have tried to identify the source and volume of pollution that fouls the Salish Sea, which stretches from southern British Columbia down through Puget Sound. They’ve released multiple reports on the issue, including “Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound” and “Toxics in Surface Runoff to Puget Sound: Phase 3 Data and Load Estimates.” A great source from the first document is Table 30, which zeroes in on the specific sources of the pollutants, e.g. the top source of lead is “ammunition and hunting shot use, loss of fishing sinkers, loss of wheel weights.”

**References for pollution removal, fate, and treatment include:

• “Bioretention Technology: Overview of Current Practice and Future Needs” by Allen P. Davis et al. published in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Environmental Engineering
• “BMP Effectiveness for Nutrients, Bacteria, Solids, Metals, and Runoff Volume,” by Jonathan E. Jones et al. published in the March-April 2012 issue of Stormwater
• “Capture and Release of Pollutants by Rain Gardens” by Joel G. Morgan et al. from the November 2011 issue of the Updates Newsletter from the University of Minnesota
• “Contamination of Soil and Groundwater Due to Stormwater Infiltration Practices: A Literature Review” from Peter T. Weiss et al. and published in June 2008 as a project report from the University of Minnesota
• “Development of a Protocol for Risk Assessment of Microorganisms in Separate Stormwater Systems” by Adam W. Olivieri et al. and published in 2007 by the Water Environment Research Foundation
• “Investigating Stormwater Hydrocarbon Fate and Biodegradation in Bioretention Areas” by Gregory H. LeFevre et al. from the April 2012 issue of the Updates Newsletter from the University of Minnesota
• “Review of Bioretention System Research and Design: Past, Present, and Future” by Audrey Roy-Poirier et al. published in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Engineering
• “Sustainable Oil and Grease Removal from Synthetic Stormwater Runoff Using Bench-Scale Bioretention Studies” by Eunyoung Hong et al. from the February 2006 issue of Water Environment Research
• The Performance of Grassed Swales as Infiltration and Pollution Prevention Practices: A Literature Review” from Peter T. Weiss et al. and published in November 2010 through the University of Minnesota
• “2010 Stormwater Management Facility Monitoring Report” by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, Tim Kurtz et al., and published in December 2010

From “Are Rain Gardens Mini Toxic Cleanup Sites?” by Lisa Stiffler, Copyright 2013, Sightline Institute; used with permission.

About the Author

Lisa Stiffler, a Journalism fellow, writes about pressing issues in the Northwest, like polluted stormwater that runs into Puget Sound, or harmful BPA in baby products. Before joining the Sightline team, Stiffler was a reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for ten years, most of them spent covering environmental issues. She may be reached at lis@sightlin.org.

by John Mark Courtney

Plants are a key element to a balanced pond ecosystem. No matter how big or small the body of water may be, plants play an essential role in maintaining good water quality and a healthy balanced habitat. Some of the functions plants perform include bank and soil stabilization, nutrient uptake from the water column, and habitat for everything from beneficial microbes, insects, fish, and amphibians to ducks, small mammals, and song birds. Plants also provide us with visual aesthetics with showy flowers and blocks of texture and color throughout the seasons.

For inspiration, look to natural ponds and lakeshores. Take note of natural meanders, curvilinear lines, and subtle transitions. Observe interactions between plant grouping and their dispersal. With a keen eye you will notice the influence of seasonal high and low water on the various plants and where they occur.

It is important to not box a design in and focus on only what will grow in the water. A full encompassing design begins well above the water and takes into consideration every step of hydrological influence approaching the waters’ edge and into the pond down three feet.  Each zone plays an important role in the fabric of a healthy pond.

Zonation of Aquatic Plants

Dry Meadow/Upland

Perhaps the most overlooked and under appreciated zone around a pond is the High Meadow. This is the “buffer zone,” the first area where runoff must flow through to reach the pond.  For this zone to function as part of the whole, taller grasses, some trees and shrubs would be recommended. More often than not this area is mowed turf grass, essentially rendering it non-existent. It is in this zone runoff water will be slowed down and sediments and debris will be trapped before reaching the pond.

Wet Meadow/Saturated Soil

The wet meadow or high marsh zone around a pond functions as a buffer much like the high meadow zone, but is hydrologically influenced during times of flooding or seasonally high water. The soils in the zone tend to be saturated for part of the year and support more traditional wetland vegetation and moisture loving wildflowers.

Marginal Aquatic Vegetation/Low Marsh 0-6’’

Enter the zone where the water meets the land. This is a dynamic area that is very sensitive to erosion from wave action, foot traffic, and grazing. It is here aquatic perennials such as sedges (Carex sp.), Soft rush (Juncus effusus), Swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), and Blueflag Iris (Iris vericolor) work to stabilize the bank and provide cover for amphibians and small fish.

Emergent Aquatic Vegetation/Shallow Water 6-12”

The shallow water zone is teeming with abundant aquatic life like spawning fish, toads, and frogs as well as dragonfly larvae and other macro invertebrates. The plants that occupy this zone tend to be colonizers spreading with modified roots called rhizomes. Examples of colonizing perennials include Pickerel rush (Pontideria cordata), Bull rushes (Schoenoplectus sp.), Lizard’s tail (Saururus cernuus), and Burreed (Sparganium sp.).

A few clump-forming perennials that occupy this zone and spread only by seed include Arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), Golden club (Orontium aquaticum), and Water plantain (Alissma sp.). These plants help break up wave action before waves can reach the marginal zone, provide excellent cover for wildlife, and aid in nutrient uptake from the water column.

Floating Leaf Aquatics/Open Water 12-24”

These are the true aquatic plants. The Water lily (Nymphaea odorata), American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea), and Spadderdock (Nuphar lutea) all emerge from the bottom sediments with a petiole stretched to the surface leaves. These plants provide essential shade and cover for deeper water where algae and other potentially undesirable species would otherwise dominate.

Submergent Aquatic Vegetation/Open Water 24-36”

Submergent aquatics (SA) form the foundation of a balanced aquatic ecosystem providing a vital roll in nutrient absorption, particulate filtration, and oxygenation. They function as a biological particulate and chemical filter while providing critical cover and oxygen for countless invertebrates and the predators that consume them. Often referred to as “oxygenators,” most water gardeners consider submergent vegetation as essential for a balanced ecosystem. Many native options are available that can provide interesting forms as well as function. These include Water celery (Valisneria americana) and Floating leaf pondweed (Potomageton nodosus).

Design Process/Site Analysis

The first step to formulating a good planting plan for a pond or lake is to define the objective and primary use of the water body. A pond that is to be used for swimming will have a completely different plan from a pond that is to be used for maintaining a fishery. A good planting plan takes into consideration the primary objective and balances it with the need for aquatic vegetation to achieve a functioning healthy ecosystem.

Second, consider the entire watershed of the pond. Special attention should be paid to the primary and secondary source of water. It is in these areas that plants can be used to slow water down, trap sediments, and aid in nutrient removal before flowing water reaches the main water body. Also note the prevailing windward and leeward sides of the pond. This will help identify areas of organic deposition, as well as areas that may need plantings to help break wave action from reaching the shore. Wind can be used as a natural dispersal of seed as the plantings become mature.

Inventory existing vegetation; note non-natives, potential problem plants, as well as desirable populations that can be enhanced. Ascertain certain views and areas for access. Try to identify the seasonal high and low water line, this is especially important when planting the marginal zone where a difference of 4” of water will determine survivability of certain species.

Implementation/Planting

When planting in an earth bottom pond, use regional native plants. Most all-aquatic plants are opportunistic in nature and can be aggressive in certain situations. That’s not to say every plant has that potential, but special consideration should be taken in the plant selection.

Always work backwards in the mud to minimize foot traffic in the soft sediments, smoothing out any footprints as you go. To minimize disturbance open up the smallest hole possible to plant, unconsolidated mud cannot be compacted and should not be dug like normal garden soil.  Most importantly never step at the waterline, always step over it when entering and exiting the water, this practice will help maintain the integrity of the bank.

After planting, protection from predation, up to three years, in areas of high goose pressure is a must until the plants are established. Techniques to keep the geese out range from black plastic-coated wire fencing at the shoreline and in the water to monofilament line strung across and around a pond to prevent landing. Once the plants are established and the exclosure comes down, special attention should be paid during nesting season and fall migration times. Geese can also be prevented from landing either through human harassment or canine harassment.

Following these few simple practices will help ensure the success of a shoreline planting. Remember to first lay out the primary objective and use of the water body before planting anything.

Plant Lists:

Colonizing plants for larger ponds:
Acorus americana
Decodon verticillata
Dulichium arundinacea
Menyanthies trifoliata
Pontideria cordata
Sagittaria latifolia
Saururus cernuus
Schoenoplectus sp.
Sparganium americanum

Clump forming plants for smaller ponds:
Alisma plantago-aquaticum
Carex sp.
Hibiscus moscheutos
Iris versicolor
Juncus effusus
Orontium aquaticum
Peltandra virginica

About the Author

John Mark Courtney is an award-winning designer, avid bogman, and lover of all things wild and natural. For the last 15 years John has been the greenhouse manager for Aquascapes Unlimited Inc in Pipersville, PA, where he has grown and nurtured from seed over 100 different genera of native herbaceous wetland perennials for habitat restoration. John has lectured on many topics involving ponds and bogs and has also been featured on the Martha Stewart Show. John has a BS in Environmental Design from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture and interned at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve.