New Jersey Demonstration Rain Gardens ~
Ewing Independent Living

 

Ewing Independent Living
1015 Whitehead Road Extension, Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey 08638

Google (TM) Map	Site Contact(s)	History	Runoff Managed
Installation	Plant Layout	Maintenance	Photographs

 

Google (TM) Map:


View New Jersey Demonstration Rain Gardens in a larger map

Site Contact(s):

Jeremiah Bergstrom, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program
    

History:

The Ewing Independent Living rain garden was installed as a community demonstration project to intercept, treat, and infiltrate stormwater runoff from a portion of the facility's rooftop.

This rain garden is part of an educational project sponsored through a grant awarded to the Ewing Green Team by Sustainable Jersey to lead and coordinate sustainability activities for Ewing Township. The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program worked with the Ewing Green Team to provide educational workshops that gave township residents the opportunity to learn how to be better stewards of the environment and to be involved in hands-on initiatives to take the first steps towards building a sustainable community. These workshops included two "Build a Rain Barrel" workshops and an "Introduction to Rain Gardens" seminar.

The Ewing Township Green Team, through its Rain Garden Committee, assessed sites throughout the Township with technical assistance from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program and identified potential rain garden opportunities. Through these efforts, two rain gardens were installed in Ewing Township.

To address the water quality issues associated with increased stormwater runoff, demonstration projects like this rain garden are essential. This project serves as a demonstration for residential scale rain gardens.

Type of Runoff Managed:

This rain garden manages stormwater runoff from a portion of the building's rooftop.

Installation:

The rain garden was installed in September 2011 by the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program staff and an undergraduate student intern. Staff from Greg's Landscaping, Inc., who completed the Rain Garden Training for Professional Landscapers, assisted with the labor of the rain garden by excavating and removing existing soil. Soils in the rain garden were amended with a sand/compost mixture to allow for improved infiltration. Delaware River stone was used to stabilize the inlet and the overflow. A three-inch layer of triple shredded hardwood mulch was spread throughout the rain garden. The native plants installed in this rain garden were purchased from RareFind Nursery and J.K. Matthews Nursery LLC.

Approval to install the rain garden was granted by the Ewing Township Green Team. This rain garden was funded by a grant from Sustainable Jersey.

Plant Layout:

Rain Garden Map

Plant List:

Blue Flag Iris
Blue Lobelia
Bluestem
Cardinal Flower
Inkberry Holly
New York Aster
Softrush
Sweet Pepperbush/Summer Sweet
Switchgrass
Turtlehead

Click here to download Adobe Reader to view the rain garden map and the plant list fact sheets.
 

Maintenance:
   
This rain garden is maintained by Ewing Independent Living volunteers.

Photographs:

Click here for photographs of the Ewing Independent Living rain garden.