On orders from the EPA, Kansas City must replace old sewer pipes and take other measures to keep rivers and streams from filling with unsafe levels of poop every time it rains. With a potential price tag of $3 billion, the city is looking for cheaper, greener solutions in an effort to reduce the amount of concrete needed to complete the project.
The barrel was easy to install, and I'm not at all handy. It holds 65 gallons. I use the water it collects to keep flowers healthy and to wash out the syrurpy gunk that builds up in the recycling bin.
But, for me, the barrel's greatest virtue its ability to hold back at least some rainwater headed for the back doorstep. Bridging the Gap is a good resource for more information on how to obtain, install and even decorate a rain barrel.
I also bought some plants to help soak up the water that turns the backyard into gruel during storms.
I didn't follow the instructions and dig a depression for my rain garden. I did the easy thing and just put in some native plants about 15 feet from the house, in a spot where rainwater liked to pool. I planted palm sedge, golden Alexander and wild bergamot purchased at Heartland Nursery in Lee's Summit. Total cost for five plants: about $30.
As the plants flourished, I found myself becoming a snob about native plants. I'd go to a garden store and cringe at the sight of species native to the Far East. My gardening skills weren't any more refined than when I'd started. I'd simply discovered plants that were both idiot-proof and functional.
Ambition and my hatred of mowing the grass led to the next project. I decided to kill a swath of turf and plant still more native plants.
The spot in question sits under a giant sycamore tree and presses against the back fence, where all sorts of invasive plants, including poison ivy, had taken residence. Between the low-hanging sycamore limbs and the itch bushes (even the ones that weren't poisonous looked poisonous), I hated going back there. Pushing a mower through the stuff was hell.
I sprayed a herbicide, and eventually the turf grass I wanted to eliminate turned brown. I rationalized the damage to the environment by thinking of the time the mower would not poison the air tending to this patch. The larger invasive plants I removed by hand. (Using an ax: good workout for the glutes.)
The budget does not allow me to replace the dead turf with plants in containers. Instead, I ordered seeds from a company in Jefferson City, Missouri Wildflowers Nursery. The mix contains the seeds of more than two dozen plants with tantalizing names (foxglove beard tongue, rough blazing star). I sprinkled in some poverty grass, too.
By now, I had become somewhat obsessed with the idea of restoring a sliver of tall grass prairie. Waiting for the package from the nursery took me back to elementary school, when I sent away for Cheap Trick merchandise that never came.
The seeds finally arrived last month. The freezing and thawing of the ground this time of year is supposed to help work the seeds into the soil. Gratification will come slowly. Prairie plants spend the first year doing most of their work below ground. But at least I won't have to mow the formally godforsaken area.
My efforts' ultimate impact on the Blue River Watershed is, alas, minimal. The downspouts on our home empty on to the lawn, not directly into the sewer system. Also, the rain barrel really doesn't hold that much water. "We're going to need concrete for the foreseeable future," says Ward Wilson, an environmental engineer at Tetra Tech, a company working with the city on its overflow control plan.
However, it is pretty cool to think that the backyard will provide a deeper carbon sink than my neighbors'. And if I'm not a complete clod, it should look great, too.
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Bill:
How do I get in touch with you? Do you offer the rain barrel like the one on this page:
http://www.aquabarrel.com/prod...
The one I really would like to have is the 80 gallon rain barrel from Aquabarrel. Do you sell or install them?
I think it is great that the community is working toward a 10,000 RG goal. I am currently installing barrels for my friends.
Please contact me if anyone wants to get started with this. It is really fun and easy.
The reason it is an uphill battle is because there are too many Al Gores out there being fools and claiming to have all the answers via plagarism. This is evidenced by your defensive reply, WW.
Drop the buzzword salad and bullshit math and then if it makes sense, folks will do it.
Alas, shit still flows raw in the river. But, KCMOs 10,000 Rain Gardens plan was one of the few good thoughts they ever had.
OK - now I remember. Sorry if I seemed too defensive. It's an uphill climb to get green techniques into practice and I don't want to do anything to hurt the effort.
I do applaud you for doing what you can on your property. I very much believe that many small actions can have a large effect. And you have shown it's really not that hard to do and fun to boot.
Glad you are using native plants - stay on top of the weeds this first year and add compost or aged leaves if you can to get those soil microbes working for you.
Thanks for sharing. I hope your story inspires many folks to think about native plants and especially tallgrass prairie restoration.
Thanks for writing about this. I've been thinking about making a rain garden, and your story has inspired me to go ahead and buy the barrels.
Yes, Mr. Wilson, we spoke on the phone a few months ago. Lynn Hinkle at Astra Communications put us in touch.
It wasn't my intention to make you seem like an opponent of green infrastructure. But in our conversation, you did warn against overselling its abilities.
Although I am quoted in this article ("We're going to need concrete for the foreseeable future," says Ward Wilson, an environmental engineer at Tetra Tech, a company working with the city on its overflow control plan.), I don't remember talking to you or saying this.
I suppose I could have said these words at some time, but I think it's out of context here - I am a big proponent of green infrastructure. For the past couple of years, I have led a project that installed 80 rain gardens and 160 rain barrels in an effort to study their effects on a small watershed in Cincinnati (www.mtairyraincatchers.org).
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