Featured Gardens Portfolio
creating a greater network for us to live to live with nature
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Carlson Chicago (Horner Park)
BEFORE WORK:
This property's owner was distressed because their new landscape's grading had unfortunately created an erosion problem caused to the large quantity of rainwater coming off the roof of their new home was not only affecting the Carlson property, but a community nature path, owned by the Friends of the Chicago River, bordering Carlson's backyard and running along the Chicago River. All of this was being affected by this excessive running water coming from the property.downspout for their gutters was not properly managed and was creating a great amount of flooding on their property. With a heavily-mulched landscape covered with a mix of native and ornamental plants. ornamental, the property didn't stand a chance against heavy rainfall and thus erosion frequently occured, washing wood mulch that had been placed on the slope down onto the nature path.
AFTER:
Our Strategy was two fold: Add two rain gardens and terrace the slopes while upping the percentage of plant, allowing for smaller infiltration areas and slowing the water with a greater biodiversity of plants.
1. Add two rain gardens:
•manage the large quantity of water that came off the roofs of the house and then released at the existing gardens edges. Do this by creating two rain gardens at the discharge points allowing a large flat surface of ground to let the water pond and infiltrate with plants working as spongy roots to assist with this process.
Large Rain Garden #1
(above) Larger rain garden with spring bloom Calico Beardtongue (L) and G
late summer Great Blue Lobelia and swamp milkweed (R)
The smaller and deeper rain garden near the screened in porch, was on the steepest part of the slope and we actually used an engineered soil that had great void space to hold more water than the soil that was brought in by the contractors to create the grassy area of the back yard.
Smaller / Deeper Rain Garden #2
(above) Smaller rain garden with spring bloom of Sedges and Jacob's Ladder (L) and late summer Indian Pink in bloom (R)
2. Terrace the slopes while upping the percentage of plant, allowing for smaller infiltration areas and slowing the water with a greater biodiversity of plants. Here we were able to use the onsite material of firewood in addition to bringing in some landscape stone to build that part of the infrastructure.
Entrance under construction (above)
This property's owner was distressed because their new landscape's grading had unfortunately created an erosion problem caused to the large quantity of rainwater coming off the roof of their new home was not only affecting the Carlson property, but a community nature path, owned by the Friends of the Chicago River, bordering Carlson's backyard and running along the Chicago River. All of this was being affected by this excessive running water coming from the property.downspout for their gutters was not properly managed and was creating a great amount of flooding on their property. With a heavily-mulched landscape covered with a mix of native and ornamental plants. ornamental, the property didn't stand a chance against heavy rainfall and thus erosion frequently occured, washing wood mulch that had been placed on the slope down onto the nature path.
AFTER:
Our Strategy was two fold: Add two rain gardens and terrace the slopes while upping the percentage of plant, allowing for smaller infiltration areas and slowing the water with a greater biodiversity of plants.
1. Add two rain gardens:
•manage the large quantity of water that came off the roofs of the house and then released at the existing gardens edges. Do this by creating two rain gardens at the discharge points allowing a large flat surface of ground to let the water pond and infiltrate with plants working as spongy roots to assist with this process.
Large Rain Garden #1
(above) Larger rain garden with spring bloom Calico Beardtongue (L) and G
late summer Great Blue Lobelia and swamp milkweed (R)
The smaller and deeper rain garden near the screened in porch, was on the steepest part of the slope and we actually used an engineered soil that had great void space to hold more water than the soil that was brought in by the contractors to create the grassy area of the back yard.
Smaller / Deeper Rain Garden #2
(above) Smaller rain garden with spring bloom of Sedges and Jacob's Ladder (L) and late summer Indian Pink in bloom (R)
2. Terrace the slopes while upping the percentage of plant, allowing for smaller infiltration areas and slowing the water with a greater biodiversity of plants. Here we were able to use the onsite material of firewood in addition to bringing in some landscape stone to build that part of the infrastructure.
Entrance under construction (above)