Under its Ready for Rain Peterborough program, GreenUP began installing the first two of eight rain gardens in Peterborough’s The Avenues neighbourhood today (September 27).
The remaining six rain gardens are to be installed over the next week. This will be one of the largest landscape transformations GreenUP has organized within Peterborough.
Installing a rain garden is one of the most proven alternative methods of increasing the health of our watersheds by reducing runoff and soaking up rain, which is especially important in urban environments where flooding and runoff are prevalent.
A small rain garden can divert as much as 50,000 cubic metres from a single storm, and can also help to naturally filter and clean water and reduce flooding. According to GreenUP, rain gardens can also beautify a neighbourhood, provide educational opportunities, and increase habitat for local wildlife and pollinators.
The first two installations begin today at 304 and 313 Elias Avenue. This weekend, three gardens will be installed on Saturday (September 30) at 311 Pearl Avenue, 566 Sherbrooke Street, and 317 Frederick Avenue, and on Sunday (October 1) at 537 Bolivar Street and 273 John Street.
The final garden will be installed at the Corner of Park and Charlotte Streets alongside BE Catering on Wednesday, October 4th.
At each location, the garden area is excavated, curb cuts are made to allow for water flow, soil is added, rain barrels are connected, and a total of 400 plant species are planted.
Three of the gardens are being installed within boulevard areas to help capture rain from the road, with the remainder being planted in front yards to capture rain from rooftops.
The Ready for Rain Peterborough program is funded through the Ontario Trillium Foundation along with donations of supplies and support from the Peterborough community.
