Rain gardens are small depressions planted with native flowers, grasses and shrubs, designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water from a roof, driveway or open area.
ful that if conservation authorities and governments and trade associations continue to get the message out there, that will change and we will eventually see home owners coming to landscape professionals and asking for those types of projects.”
The tides are turning Anna van Maris of Parklane Nurseries in Beaverton, Ont. has been a leader in promoting LID practices and environmental stewardship through numerous public projects and demonstrations to the public at Canada Blooms. With a passion for the environment and an educational background in environmental studies, van Maris has focused her family business towards green LID and eco-friendly practices over the last 12 years. “When I was in school, I was taught to take water and get it off the property as fast as possible,” recalls van Maris. “I’ve since learned that was a mistake; that’s absolutely the wrong mentality to have when designing a landscape.” She adds, “Municipalities are realizing that we need to reduce water consumption because they’re running out of potable water. Developments are happening too fast and they simply don’t have enough potable water. How can they possibly justify allowing people to use water to irrigate their gardens when the water has gone through so many different processes in order to clean it and make it suitable for drinking?” It’s an expensive process for local governments, van Maris explains, and the problem is compounded by the fact we have so many
What is Low Impact Development?
Low Impact Development (LID) is a set of construction and landscape design strategies that mitigate the potential negative impacts of excess stormwater by managing runoff as close to its source as possible. In simple terms, it’s all about reducing the amount impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt where water can’t soak into the ground. LID practices often recreate natural or predevelopment hydrology (the way water moves) through the processes of infiltration, evapotranspiration, harvesting, filtration and detention of stormwater. LID often incorporates native plants, which are well adapted to the soils and climate conditions of their region and often require less maintenance, water, and fertilizer than many ornamental non-native plants. LID designs work to remove nutrients, pathogens and metals from runoff, preventing pollutants from flowing into watersheds, lakes and rivers. The goal is to reduce the rate and amount of water running off of a property; with less water moving into watercourses from storm sewers, the risk of flooding (particularly during peak storm events) and stream bank erosion descreases, and water quality is enhanced. LID also provides economic benefits, as less runoff reduces the burden on municipal waste water systems. Treating, pumping and distributing water also uses a large amount of energy, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions and increased carbon footprints. Examples of LID include: rain gardens, bioswales, downspout redirects, rainwater harvesting with barrels or tanks, porous or pervious pavement, green roofs, as well as soakaways and infiltration trenches. 8 | JANUARY 2018 | LANDSCAPE TRADES
hard, impermeable surfaces in our communities. The stormwater infrastructure is designed to send water directly into rivers and these systems are getting overloaded during heavy rain falls, resulting in costly backups and flooding. Worse still, is the amount of pollutants and sediments that are moving through the system and ending up in the watershed, van Maris says.
Governments add impervious surface taxes Municipalities like Waterloo Region in Ontario and the City of Victoria in British Columbia have recently implemented measures to tax property owners based on the square footage of impermeable surfaces on their property, in an effort to encourage LID and recoup some of the costs of managing the water infrastructure. Impervious surface taxes could spur consumer demand for LID landscaping. However, van Maris argues that green professionals shouldn’t move towards environmental practices simply to make money. “As landscapers, we are poised to do more than most to improve the planet,” she says. “We are in the industry of being stewards of the land; we are supposed to be taking this seriously.” There are already plenty of homeowners looking for landscapers who genuinely care about the environment, she adds. “There are people out there who want to do their part to protect the environment and the water in their communities; we are attracting them. We’ve been finding ways to keep water on our client’s properties since before rain gardens even had a name.” Like Abernethy, van Maris is careful about how she explains rain gardens and native plantings to her clients. “At first we were putting rain gardens and native plants in without even telling our clients we were doing it,” she recalls. “We did it because it was the right thing to do. We’d convince them to use Rudbeckia for example, because it’s a beautiful yellow flower, not by preaching that it’s native.” It’s not about being sneaky, or tricking clients, Abernethy and van Maris each stressed. Rather, they find ways to emphasize the benefits of rain gardens and native plantings without proselytizing. The language you use is critical.