PRWIN, volunteers plant Rain Garden in Ripley

What began as a big hole in the ground, has become a beautiful Rain Garden, west of the Bruce County Library in Ripley.

Emily Martin, projects co-ordinator with the Pine River Watershed Initiative Network (PRWIN), and a hard-working group of volunteers, completed the project Monday, Oct. 16.

Kempton Construction excavated the hole, and the volunteers then had to fill it up with better soil before the planting could begin.

"We have clay soil in this area," said Martin, "so we're adding mulch and compost to improve the base."

Once the soil base was prepared, large rocks were placed throughout the garden, along with smaller stones, and then the plants which came from Smeltzer's Garden Centre and are drought-resistant and flood-resistant, said Martin.

Rain Gardens look like regular perennial gardens, but help capture and filter stormwater. They are shallow, sunken gardens, designed to collect rainwater that flows off hard, impermeable surfaces, such as roofs, driveways, and patios. They can be planted with many combinations of shrubs, grasses, and flowers.

Under the surface, the loose, deep soil of the Rain Garden absorbs and filters rainwater, thereby reducing the load on the stormwater system. Residents from all locations can benefit from planting a Rain Garden on their property to help the effects of climate change.

The Rain Garden in Ripley is low-maintenance, and will collect and filter rain runoff from the west half of the library roof (approximately 68 square metres).

The garden, itself, is about 6.8 square metres in area, and dug to a depth of about one metre.