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A local Master Gardeners group got their hands dirty Saturday morning as they installed a rain garden at Smith Hall on the Crowder College campus.
The Master Gardeners of Newton / McDonald Counties provided the labor, native plants came from Shine Hollow Ranch of Powell, Crowder loaned the use of a tractor from its school farm, and Neosho Box and Wood provided mulch at a reduced rate and delivered it to the rain garden site.
John Hobbs with the University of Missouri Extension Service, said his group, along with the Elk River Watershed Improvement Association, initiated the project as an educational demonstration of the benefit of rain gardens for water quality by reducing nutrient runoff to streams.
Rainwater is collected from Smith Hall’s roof via traditional downspouts. But instead of the water being routed off into a parking lot and, eventually, a sewer system, the water is being routed to irrigate a collection of native plants. On Saturday, the group was busy preparing flower beds and planting zero maintenance plants such as river oats, copper iris, foxglove beardtongue, orange coneflower, buttonbush, “lo-gro” fragrant sumac and many more.
According to Gwen Schroder with Shine Hollow Ranch, all of the plants are native species to Missouri and were propagated from native seeds.
“Once they’re established, they won’t take additional care,” she said. “They don’t take any fertilizer, water from the roof goes to the plants instead of running off and going into a sewer.”
The garden was designed by Ronda Headland, community conservation planner with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Headland also derived a plants list and drew out plans for plant placement.
Plants and materials for the project were provided by a grant to the ERWIA from the Environmental Resources Coalition, based in Jefferson City.
A local Master Gardeners group got their hands dirty Saturday morning as they installed a rain garden at Smith Hall on the Crowder College campus.
The Master Gardeners of Newton / McDonald Counties provided the labor, native plants came from Shine Hollow Ranch of Powell, Crowder loaned the use of a tractor from its school farm, and Neosho Box and Wood provided mulch at a reduced rate and delivered it to the rain garden site.
John Hobbs with the University of Missouri Extension Service, said his group, along with the Elk River Watershed Improvement Association, initiated the project as an educational demonstration of the benefit of rain gardens for water quality by reducing nutrient runoff to streams.
Rainwater is collected from Smith Hall’s roof via traditional downspouts. But instead of the water being routed off into a parking lot and, eventually, a sewer system, the water is being routed to irrigate a collection of native plants. On Saturday, the group was busy preparing flower beds and planting zero maintenance plants such as river oats, copper iris, foxglove beardtongue, orange coneflower, buttonbush, “lo-gro” fragrant sumac and many more.
According to Gwen Schroder with Shine Hollow Ranch, all of the plants are native species to Missouri and were propagated from native seeds.
“Once they’re established, they won’t take additional care,” she said. “They don’t take any fertilizer, water from the roof goes to the plants instead of running off and going into a sewer.”
The garden was designed by Ronda Headland, community conservation planner with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Headland also derived a plants list and drew out plans for plant placement.
Plants and materials for the project were provided by a grant to the ERWIA from the Environmental Resources Coalition, based in Jefferson City.
