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GARDEN GUARDIAN: Volunteers from RappFLOW are building a rain garden near The Schoolhouse in Sperryville to catch water runoff. Marc Malik lent his expertise in the sizing and design of the garden.
Building a
rain garden
By Louise Bondelid
Special to the Rappahannock News
RappFLOW7s volunteers and partners last week constructed a Rain Garden along the Thornton River in Sperryville, to slow down stormwater from the large parking lot at The Schoolhouse. Excavator Pete Krumholz of Madison, in consultation with Keys Excavating of Culpeper, created a perfect fifty-foot depression in the soil using a Bobcat and a laser level. The garden project, supported in part by a grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund, will catch and slow pollution-laden stormwater that runs from the schoolhouse parking lot and Rt. 211. The garden is sized to temporarily contain up to the first V2 inch of rainfall during a storm, giving the soil a chance to absorb and filter the water before it actually reaches the river.
The garden was sized and designed by RappFLOW member and County resident Marc Malik, a retired National Park Service Landscape Gardener, with technical assistance from Greg Wichelns of the Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District. With assistance for supplies from the Rappahannock Farmer’s Co-op, RappFLOW volunteers labored to seed and stabilize the berm of the new garden and mulch the center.
In the coming weeks, volunteers will add flowers, shrubs and trees to turn the garden into a visual treat as it serves to protect water quality in the Thornton River.
Thanks to the continuing support of owner Cliff Miller, the area of the river behind the Schoolhouse is well on its way to completion as an educational watershed protection area. The techniques used there are available to any landowner to help protect county waters while enhancing their landscape. Further information on rain gardens and a wide variety of other topics is available at the RappFLOW office located in the small building next to the Schoolhouse.
Interested persons are invited to call RappFLOW at (540) 987-8737 for additional information.
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