The Communicator

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The Communicator

The Communicator

Rain Garden

First-year+plants+in+the+CHS+rain+garden
First-year plants in the CHS rain garden
First-year plants in the CHS rain garden

Spring has sprung in the back lawn rain garden planted by the CHS Ecology Club. Club advisor and science teacher Courtney Kiley expects to start work on the garden in the next week. “We haven’t gotten out to weed the rain garden yet but it is still early…we definitely need to get out there and weed. There is a lot of garlic mustard in there… we are also getting mulch delivered to try to keep the weeds down over the summer.”

The native plants were chosen because of their ability to grow in wet and dry climates. Some plants came from a nursery and others were donated by CHS families. The rain garden was planted at the end of September by Kiley and about fifteen other ecology club members.

Kiley hopes to work with the Huron Watershed Council on a large sign for the garden. “[I want] to have an informational sign made that says ‘CHS Rain Garden’ to help people learn about it. So many people walk by our school that to have a sign accessible from Kerrytown would be ideal.”
She already has smaller signs describing each plant that she hopes to install soon. “Lake irises, wild strawberries, grasses… and sages are starting to come up,” said Kiley. She expects the rest of the plants to sprout soon.

Kiley hopes to improve the drainage from the parking lot to the rain garden but otherwise will let the garden develop naturally. “A great thing about rain gardens is they really don’t need a lot of maintenance… we did need to water it once or twice a week when the plants were first getting established but you don’t need to water rain gardens…. [Over the summer] I will come up twice a month to keep some of the weeds at bay,” said Kiley.

The rain garden is the first phase of a long-term plan developed by Ecology Club members and JJR Smith landscape architects. The Ecology Club worked with JJR Smith landscape architects to make the CHS campus beautiful and green. Possible future projects include installing planting beds and beautifying the front lawn.

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Rain Garden