Implementing LID practices at Eastern Middle School
- Update -

Ed Murtagh
November 2006 		Original Posting
April 18, 2005

The first rain garden after one year
Because of the success of the Green Landscaping Partnership, we extended the partnership an additional year. The follow-up partnership agreement calls for the installation of a second rain garden in the school yard and doing additional maintenance work (minor weeding and planting) on the first rain garden (installed in spring 2005). The rain garden installed in the spring of 2005 has filled in and has become an attraction for the students and school staff. The second rain garden was designed to help address the stormwater runoff that was washing mulch from the Memorial Garden and causing icy conditions in the winter. This project was funded by a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant. Jenny Reed of Natural Resources Design, Inc. donated some of her time and helped managed the project.

On May 12 and 21, volunteers helped build the first cell in the new rain garden and planted and weeded in the original rain garden. The soil at the proposed rain garden site was compacted clayey subsoil that drained poorly. To make matters worse, construction debris was also buried at the site. Before the workday, the site was rotor-tilled and clay soil was excavated. A day laborer was hired to do much of the heavy excavation before the first workday. The excavated soil was used to a build berm for the rain garden and to grade the soil along the school to preventing ponding that was occurring whenever there was heavy rain.

Some of the volunteers on the May 2006 Workdays

On October 2006, follow up workdays were held to complete the plantings. Below are some of the volunteers at the Oct. 29 workday.

In addition to the new rain garden, eight rain barrels were installed around the front perimeter of the school. These will be used to buffer some of the stormwater runoff and to provide a reservoir for watering (the only outdoor spigot for this area of the school is not functional so these reservoirs will be helpful to establish new landscaping and during droughts.)

Clair Garman installing one of the new rain barrels

Efforts with Beneficial Landscaping

In 2004 Eastern Middle School featured an uninviting barren schoolyard landscaping. The schoolyard, which was once so sterile and lifeless, slowly came to life. The empty basin in the front of the school has since become a vibrant tapestry of colorful flowers, waving grasses, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Stormwater Basin - 2004
Stormwater Basin - 2006

The swamp milkweed attracted Eastern Swallow Tails and Monarch Butterflies.