maintaining rain gardens

Maintaining Rain-GardensLessons Learned from the

Kansas State University

Stormwater Management Project

Lee R. Skabelund, Kansas State University

Landscape Architecture / Regional & Community Planning

Principal Investigator / Project Manager

Konza Prairie near Manhattan, KS

Flint Hills Ecoregion

Urban Stormwater ConcernsThroughout Kansas stormwater is typically

sent quickly away from developed areas and straight-piped into drainageways, streams, rivers, and ponds.

As a result of these and other land-use

practices, ecosystems are being severely

degraded.

Large amounts of water are also sprayed on lawns, gardens, and other landscapes.

Often, very little water replenishes

underground water reserves.

What can we do to correct these

bad habits?

First, we must recognize

the connections!

Campus Creek

Watershed

Big Blue River

Wildcat Creek

Kansas River

Interweaving Art and ScienceK-State’s International Student Center Rain-Garden

The KSU ISC Rain-Garden was constructed

by faculty, students and staff in Spring 2007.

In Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 Lee Skabelund

collaborated with Art students and faculty to

create rain-bowls for the ISC Rain-Garden.

ISC Rain-Garden Project

• This collaborative design-build project engaged students, faculty, staff, and professionals in the task of considering ecologically sound ways to treat stormwater that falls on the Kansas State University (KSU) campus. In the process, two specific goals were achieved:

1) Designed and created a rain-garden along a selected area of Campus Creek to reduce stormwater run-off and improve water quality.

2) Demonstrated specific ways to address urban stormwater runoff to KSU administrators, staff, faculty, students, and visitors.

5/22/09

Educational Intent of the Project

Engaging KSU administrators, staff, faculty, students, and local planning/design professionals is

deemed essential if substantive changes in stormwater management are to occur on campus

and in the larger community.

This collaborative design/build demonstration project involved key stakeholders at KSU and other

communities, raising their awareness of best practices, testing design ideas on the ground, and

engaging those who influence stormwater management at KSU and beyond.

5/22/09

Rain-Garden Maintenance:

Key Ideas to Remember:

1) Rain-Gardens need to be maintained (there is no free lunch when it comes to maintaining gardens and created or disrupted landscapes).

2) Weeding is essential (although a good hardwood mulch can reduce the number of weeds and make weeding easier). Fertilizing is not needed if you use plants adapted to the region and site. Pruning is rarely needed, though you will likely want to clip back perennials before spring (you may wish to transplant and water in seedlings and/or remove more aggressive perennials if they begin to dominate your garden).

3) Watering during the first growing season is vital (try to strike a balance between providing too much and too little water). If you choose plants well-adapted to your eco-region and specific site, no watering should be needed once the plants are established. Check for exposed soil and erosion, and add an organic weed-free mulch. If too much sediment is flowing into the garden find the source and stabilize the area (if needed, you may need to reduce the volume or intensity of stormwater flowing into the garden).

4) Draw upon the experience of others, including folks on the east coast, mid-west, Rocky Mountains & west coast.

Bioregion/Landscape

Community Context

Site

Integrate Your Rain-Garden

into your eco-region and site

Key Ideas to Remember:

1) Create a rain-garden that makes sense for your site (size of

property, structures and impermeable surfaces; location; soil and

sun/shade conditions; etc.) and your maintenance capabilities.

2) Learn what the “weeds” and invasive species are in your area

and prepare to remove them from your garden as soon as possible.

3) Choose plants that can handle water and drought. In Kansas

our native prairie species are typically best and many these perennial

plants of these can be obtained from nurseries such as Kaw River

Restoration Nurseries in Lawrence (http://www.appliedeco.com/krrn/)

and the Prairie & Wetland Center (http://www.critsite.com/).

For more native plant nursery/supplier options refer to:

http://www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org/plant_resources.htm

4) Learn from others and from your own experiences (think big,

think small; be practical, be ambitious, be creative; know your budget

and institutional capacity; have a lot of fun working with soil, water and

plants; save water and energy; learn a bunch along the way).

http://www.appliedeco.com/krrn/

http://www.critsite.com/

http://www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org/plant_resources.htm

Sources: NASA (unlabled photos); Oberlin College (text & David Orr photo)

http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/highperformance/oberlin_gallery.html

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy03osti/31516.pdf

Excerpted remarks by David W. Orr, Director of Oberlin's

Environmental Studies Program, in 1999.“Three years ago we began the effort to design a building for

the Environmental Studies Program. We intended to create

not just a place for classes but rather a building that would

help to redefine the relationship between humankind and the

environment—one that would expand our sense of ecological

possibilities. We began by asking:

Is it possible—even in Ohio—to power buildings by

current sunlight?

Is it possible to create buildings that

purify their own wastewater?

Is it possible to build without compromising human and

environmental heath somewhere else or at some later time?”

DOE-Robb Williamson photo

DOE-Robb Williamson photo

Learning from Precedents:

water-sensitive site

planning/design project

http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/highperformance/oberlin_gallery.html

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy03osti/31516.pdf

Roof water is

collected in carved

stone basins, then

drains into a grated

channel before

cascading over a

five-foot stone-faced

retaining wall. The

learning lab and

auditorium buildings

expand onto the

courtyard, which is

paved with stone,

subtly-colored

sandblasted

concrete, and tile

artifacts (historically

manufactured in the

watershed).

Surrounding forest

and meadows are

pulled into the

courtyard and onto

building roofs.

Water-sensitive site

planning/design project

Cedar River Watershed Education Center - Seattle, WA Source: www.asla.org

Design by Jones & Jones – Planners,

Architects & Landscape Architects

ASLA 2004 award winner

A new road reveals

previously hidden

landscapes.

A new parking lot

integrates multiple

functions: parking,

water collection, and

horticultural display.

The lot includes an

impervious asphalt

roadway, with

permeable asphalt

parking bays off to

the sides. A

stormwater recharge

bed lies under the

entire lot. When it

rains, water rapidly

disappears through

the permeable paving

and into the

underground basin

where it infiltrates

into the ground.

Water-sensitive site

planning/design projectAndropogon Associates, Ltd.

Morris ArboretumSource: www.asla.org

Water-sensitive site planning/design project

Coffee Creek, Chesterton, IndianaSources: www.coffeecreekwc.org/pages/showgallery_visitor.asp (photos)

www.coffeecreekcenter.com/ (text)

Employing Environmental EngineeringRestoration of the Coffee Creek corridor is being implemented with guidance from

biologists who understand the local & regional landscape. Level spreaders and

vegetation infiltrate water into the soil. The project employs civil engineering without

traditional expensive and destructive stormwater drainage systems – and provides a

wide range of shared community open space within a 167-acre preserve.

Restoring Native Ecosystems and Habitats“Unbuilt areas are being restored to a pre-settlement landscape to minimize soil erosion and

rebuild soil integrity, re-establish native plant & animal communities and encourage

increased bio-diversity.”

Level Spreader

slows runoff

Wetland Cell

treats sewageGreenroof

Stream

Prairie

Fall 2004 KSU-LAR

Stormwater

Management

Charrette

Q: How do we restore hydrological processes in urban settings?

Instructive Stormwater

Management BMPs in the Region

Jackson Street Bioretention Areas,

Topeka, KS

Mize Lake Bioretention Cell and

Created Wetland, Lenexa, KS

Discovery Center,

Living Machine &

Created Wetland

Kansas City, MO

Three Guest Speakers/Reviewers

and Links to KSU Classes

Stormwater Management Charrette

at Kansas State UniversityOct. 25-27, 2006

Ten Teams; Multiple Sites;

Reviews & Open House

Integrated Teams and

Many Design Ideas…

Potential Stormwater Management Retrofits near KSU’s Derby Dining Complex

Moore Hall/Claflin Rd.

Bioretention Area (Spring ’09?)

Haymaker &

Ford Hall

Bioretention

Gardens

(Spring ’09?)

Derby

Green

Roof *International

Student Center

Raingarden

(Spring 2007)

West & Ford Hall Parking Retrofit

(Summer ’09 construction?)

Boyd Hall/Old Claflin Rd.

Raingarden

(Fall ’08 / Spring ’09 implementation?)

ISC/Residence

Hall Raingardens,

Amphitheater &

Pathways

(Fall 2009 charrette;

Summer 2010

implementation?)

* Collaborative

Project with BNIM

and other firms

(Fall 2007 Studio Project;

includes designing Green

Roofs for Seaton Hall and

other buildings at KSU;

location and construction

of a demonstration green

roof date TBD)

Restoring Hydrologic Processes along Campus Creek

The KSU International Student Center Design/Build

Rain-Garden Demonstration Project

Project inspired by

KSU-LAR Stormwater

Management Charrette

Taiwan Wing

Korean Room




In-process rain-garden photos taken on 5/16/07, 6/2/07, 6/22/07, and 7/16/07.

Planting & Setting Level-Spreader (4/28/07)Planting Plan (Cary Thomsen, KSU-MLA)




ISC Staff: Photo taken April 23, 2007

The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

Sep. 7, 2007 photo Sep. 26, 2007 photos Rain-Garden Sign

The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

October 2, 2007 - photos taken after a 1.2-inch storm event (approximate).

Campus Creek

10/2/07

The KSU International Student Center Rain-Garden Plant List

Proposed plants for fringe areas (Feb 2007)

Proposed plants for basins (Feb 2007)

ISC Rain-

Garden Plants

(Aug-Sep ’07)10/29/07

Lessons Learned

Results: participants and visitors recognize the value of water and its role in sustaining developed landscapes andnatural ecosystems by considering ways they can harness rainwater for irrigation and ecological renewal.

Assessment:

Students learned from one another, faculty, and professionals as they collaborated in vertical design teams; presented design ideas to administrators, professionals, faculty & peers; and as they helped implement design ideas at KSU’s International Student Center. They are also involved in maintenance of the ISC Rain-Garden.

9/17/07Note the water still in the rain-gutter, well after

water soaked into heavy clay rain-garden soils

5/1/0912/24/08

KSU Green Roof Design – Fall 2007

Green roof designs were

proposed for a handful of

buildings on the K-State

Campus in Manhattan,

Kansas.

Landscape Architecture

students visited four

constructed green roofs

in Kansas City, Missouri;

reviewed and discussed

the literature related to

green roof design,

construction and

management; and then

selected one or more

rooftops on which to

design a green roof.

They spent three weeks

asking: What if? What

might be? If here, how?

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers – 12 LAR Students.

Derby Dining

Complex

Chalmers &

Ackert Halls

Seaton Hall (3)

K-State

Union

Project Sites


The Derby green roof

would serve as park-

like space for walking,

reading and studying,

conversing and eating,

and resting, relaxing

and sunbathing.

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio –

Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers – Cole Giesler & Katie Sobcynski.


Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers – Kris Coen & Daniel Robben.

These green roofs would serve primarily as a research laboratories to study the value of

living roofs for energy savings and stormwater management.


This green roof would

serve as a research

laboratory, outdoor

reading room, and

social gathering space.

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers - Anthony Fox & Chris Morton.


These green roofs would offer research laboratories and a room with a view.

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers - Anthony Fox & Chris Morton.


Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designer – Lindsey Scheuneman.

The Union green roof

would serve as a space

for small social and

educational gatherings

and for catching a

breath of fresh air.

Rossville Rain-Garden – Spring 2008

Working with Prof. Skabelund, Brett Tagtmeyer & Aarthi Padmanabahn (LAR)

designed and helped residents lay out the Rossville Rain-Garden.

10/2/08

Current Projects & Next Steps

During Spring 2008 interdisciplinary student teams developed proposals for implementing the first green roof in the Flint Hills Eco-region.

Green roof & rain-garden designs are currently being implemented in Manhattan, Kansas.

Our goal is to explore community-and-landscape-appropriate ways to address urban stormwater runoff in many Kansas communities.

The WaterLINK program has played a pivotal role in allowing us to design and implement projects by working across disciplines to address stormwater management concerns in the region.

Sunset Zoo Prairie & Rain-Garden Design >

Contributors: Emily King, Lee Adams, Chris Enroth,

and Andrew Schaap

5/22/09

Seaton Hall Green Roof: The first test…

Upper breezeway roof – 300 sf; can hold ~64 lbs/sf

Low roofs to east & west – each ~350 sf; can hold ~51 lbs/sf

Seaton Hall

Seaton Green Roof

exposed upper rooftop

Details prepared by Michael Knapp & Mark Neibling,

with guidance from professors Todd Gabbard,

Lee Skabelund, KSU Facilities, Greg Pfau (BNIM),

and others. Structural calculations by Jessica Wiles

and Dr. Sutton Stephens (Arch. Engineering).

Monitoring support from Stacy Hutchinson (BAE)

and Mary Knapp (Agronomy and KSU Climatologist).

Materials and labor donated by KSU-Facilities,

Derbigum, Danker Roofing & American Hydrotech.

KSU Seaton Hall Green RoofDemonstration & Research Project

5/21/093/30/093/25/09

10/3/08

5/18/095/19/09

Interweaving Art and ScienceK-State’s International Student Center Rain-Garden

10/3/08

[email protected]