Rain gardens, pollinators, living shoreline twenty-five Erie County Master Gardeners sampled them all last Monday night touring three public gardens in Sandusky.
Bre Hohman, Erie Soil and Water Watershed Coordinator, led the tour. Hohman was instrumental in the gardens designs and installation.
Stop one: Meadowlawn School on Strub Road. The 500-foot rain garden was planted last June as a hands on learning lab to encourage fourth graders in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. Girl Scout Troop 517 helped with its installation. The purpose of the rain garden is to collect runoff from roofs, parking lots, and sidewalks thus reducing flows that overwhelm our storm sewers and streams. Rain gardens improve water quality in nearby bodies of water by helping with erosion, water pollution, and flooding. Rain from a roofs gutter is directed into the Meadowlawn bowl-shaped area. Some of the plant species include ironweed, iris, sedum, coneflowers, gazing star, and asters which create a succession of blooms from spring through fall. They also attract pollinators. A recent garden addition is milkweed, the host plant for the Monarch butterfly. Pavers allow students to immerse themselves in the plantings and collect data such as rainfall totals, drainage times, and soil temperatures. The students learn to analyze the data and share it with others.
Stop two: Living Shoreline Demonstration Garden, Shoreline Drive. One of the citys greatest assets is the water yet often it is difficult to wiggle your toes in it. Hohman said that ESWCD partnered with ODNR, local volunteer groups including the Friends of Pipe Creek Watershed and the Friends of the Sandusky Greenhouse, and others to grow and plant the switch grass and little blue steam that are among the varieties that serve to stabilize the shore. Hohman says that when the water is low, visitors to Shoreline Park will be able to walk at the waters edge among the grasses. She added that many of the Canada geese have moved on, taking with them their green tootsie roll droppings and allowing park visitors to spread out blankets and enjoy the scenery. Algal blooms have decreased and future plans for the park include a floating wetland raft to encourage greater diversity of wildlife.
Stop three: Venice School on Venice Heights Boulevard. The rain gardens at the school provide similar educational experiences for Sandusky students as the Meadowland project. Hohman said the planting at Venice School was trickier though. Augers were necessary to penetrate into the heavy clay soils. Water runoff comes from a parking lot. The Venice garden, which is more than double the size of the Meadowlawn project, incorporates shrubs into its design, includingviburnum and variegated dogwood. New England asters, monarda Fireball, blue flag, coreopsis Moonbeam, iris, spiderwort, pink flag, and milkweed are some others. Hohman says that the garden has proved so successful that plans are being made to establish a channel from an adjoining parking lot to also drain into the area. Students often check the garden and collect data several times a day after a storm,taking measurements to see how quickly the water is percolating into the soil.
The three Sandusky gardens are beautiful. They are exciting. They are training our students to become better stewards of the land, and they can help us learn more, too. Spread the word. Visit the gardens.
Master Gardener Juanita Fenton caught Bres passion and enthusiasm. It gave me an idea for an area in my garden. My wheels are turning!
My wheels are turning, too, and I think that lots of Erie County Master Gardeners wheels are turning. What a fun night!
Connie Jackson Erie County Master Gardener
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Rain Garden Tour
