See how Long Branch homeowners are tackling local water issues with custom-designed rain gardens through our new volunteer-led residential program that launched this fall.
In late September the Environmental Commission and Green Team sponsored a presentation by Dr Chris Obropta where he informed interested residents about the benefits of Green Infrastructure, including rain gardens. He offered FREE rain garden designs to any resident attending the presentation.
Six Long Branch and one Eatontown homeowner signed up and a week later, during individual 45-minute sessions, they had gardens specifically designed for their yard by an engineer and a landscape architect.
The Rafferty Residential Rain Garden
Kate Rafferty’s 1938 home had lots of water issues. A rain garden sounded like an interesting and beautiful way to deal with them. She was thrilled that she won a custom design for a rain garden to address her water issues.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in November, Nan Simon, our Green Team lead and Faith Teitelbaum, the EC chair, along with another certified Green Infrastructure and 4 volunteers, including Green Team member Darryl Speights, helped begin the first residential rain garden in Long Branch. In 4 hours we dug the 25 foot trench, the inlet and outlet, laid the landscape cloth in the trench and laid 1 ton of stone.
The Dig
Considering the current drought in our area, we decided to wait and create the rain garden in the spring.
Portion of the Rutgers green infrastructure design for the rain garden:
