Green Jay Landscape Design was recently featured on the home improvement site Houzz in a blog about managing excess stormwater in the landscape. One of our projects from 2018, a White Plains, NY pond restoration and bog garden design, was highlighted among fourteen other talented landscape designers implementing green infrastructure for stormwater management. Read the full Houzz article here!
Read our original blogs about the project:
Pond Restoration and Native Bog Garden | White Plains, NY
Pond Restoration and Native Bog Garden [VIDEO]
Stormwater Management Project Summary
This was a fun and unique project in White Plains, NY. The property featured a historic man-made pond (a fieldstone and cement dam impoundment retains flow from a stream running through the property), that was most likely constructed as a swimming pond in the 1930s or 40s. While such construction would never be approved today, as an existing landscape feature complete with a waterfall and the cover of mature trees, it held value. Unfortunately, years of neglect led to the accumulation of organic debris – sticks, branches, and leaves from the surrounding trees – that made the water quality mucky, shallow and the uninviting for swimming.
We partnered with Cooper Ponds to remove the debris, both by hand and by using a suction harvester to get the finer particles and pond muck. To maintain water depth, we repaired a leaky concrete wall with hydraulic cement. Now the inflow and outflow of the pond are in focused areas and the overall water depth will remain more consistent.
To maintain water quality, we constructed two planting areas: one in the shallow edge of the pond and one adjacent on the shore. The beds were constructed from natural stone and filled with the pond muck we removed from the main pond area. The submerged bed became a native bog garden and the adjacent shoreline bed became a mixed wetland and upland planting. Flagstone stepping stones lead you through both gardens into the pond for easy swimming access.
Pond Restoration as Green Infrastructure
By constructing the pond plantings, we effectively created a vegetative border to intercept water from the surrounding watershed. Chemicals from the stormwater runoff (oil from the road, chemicals from roofs, landscapes, etc) can now be intercepted by the shoreline garden, which is planted with facultative plants that are specifically adapted to filter pollutants. The bog garden also features these impactful native plants, and can work to filter the pond water from within. Both are examples of green infrastructure – design choices that help protect water as a natural resources by directing, absorbing and filtering stormwater before it becomes polluted.
Video Recap
Jay’s recap of this green infrastructure, stormwater management project is on video! Check out more of our videos on our YouTube channel.
Learn more about our storm water management offerings here.
Contact us to schedule your on-site consultation or free 15-minute discovery call! Now accepting landscape design clients for 2022.
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Green Jay Landscape Design
Where Design Meets Ecology
