Conservation

From its beginning in 1920, the Garden Club of Virginia has directed public attention to conservation issues around the state by establishing Conservation as its first standing committee. Through that committee, the GCV pledged to conserve natural resources, plant trees and deal with pests and pesticides. Today, the Garden Club of Virginia is still leading the way by focusing attention on conservation issues through educational leadership initiatives and legislative involvement.

A “rain garden” is a man-made depression in the ground that is used as a landscape tool to improve water quality. The rain garden forms a “bioretention area” by collecting water runoff and storing it, permitting it be filtered and slowly absorbed by the soil. The bioretention concept is based on the hydrologic function of forest habitat, in which the forest produces a spongy litter layer that soaks up water and allows it to slowly penetrate the soil layer. The site for the rain garden should be placed strategically to intercept water runoff.
A nutrient removal or "filtering" process takes place as the water comes in contact with the soil and the roots of the trees, shrubs and vegetation. This process accounts for the improved water quality. The first flush of rain water is ponded in the depression of the rain garden, and contains the highest concentration of materials washed off impervious surfaces such as roofs, roads, and parking lots.

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/mgt/print/Rain-Gardens-Tech-Guide.pdf

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/mgt/riparian/rain-gardens.htm

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