Health & Fitness
Arlington residents construct 2 new rain gardens
Together with the Mystic River Watershed Association and the Town of Arlington, local residents had a chance to help green their community by helping locate, design and plant two rain gardens.
Together with the Mystic River Watershed Association and the Town of Arlington, local residents had a chance to help green their community by helping locate, design and plant two rain gardens. Rain gardens are specially designed vegetated areas that collect, absorb and clean stormwater runoff. Since 2012, the Mystic River Watershed Association has coordinated with town employees, Sustainable Arlington and community members through several community meetings. During this time, the public had the opportunity to learn more about local water quality issues and ways to address these concerns through the implementation of rain gardens. The public proposed over a dozen potential rain garden locations which were then rated and led to the ultimate selection of Hurd Field and the Hardy Elementary School. In both cases, the gardens treat stormwater runoff from the parking lot. Meanwhile, part of the parking lot at Hurd Field was selected by EPA New England as a site for porous pavement, which was installed last fall.
Not just a planting: these gardens were excavated and include 12 inches of crushed stone plus another foot or more of biosoil, which is a specially designed compost, sand and loam mix to promote infiltration. Additionally, a PVC pipe provides extra storage for those really wet days. The plants selected are recommended for rain gardens – they can withstand both wet conditions and dry conditions.
Most recently, in May 2013, over two dozen volunteers lent a hand to plant and put the final touches on the gardens. The Mystic River Watershed Association invites you to take a look at these beautiful and pollution absorbing gardens! If you are interested in helping to maintain the gardens, please contact the Association at 781-316-3438. For more information and for photos see http://mysticriver.org/rain-gardens/.
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Check out the new rain gardens:
- Hurd Field rain garden – off of Drake Road
- Hardy School rain garden – corner of Chandler Street and Brooks Ave.
The Mystic River Watershed Association would like to thank all of the volunteers who participated in this project, the Town of Arlington, Wayne Chouinard, Charlotte Milan, Sally Naish, Fay, Spofford & Thorndike, Inc., Arlington Housing Authority, and Deborah D'Amico, Hardy School principal. Project funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's 5 Star Restoration Program.
