In 2010, Stefanie Berg and her partner (pictured above) bought a Seahurst home with a sloped yard that suited them just fine – that is, until autumn rains set in and a puddle formed right outside the front door and persisted until spring.
Searching for a solution, Stefanie learned about the 12,000 Rain Gardens Project, a campaign put together by Washington State University and Stewardship Partners to capture and filter water runoff from rooftops, driveways, and other hard surfaces. The goal of this campaign is to build 12,000 rain gardens in the Puget Sound region by 2016, soaking up 160 million gallons of polluted runoff to mitigate the stormwater crisis that is affecting local and regional waterways.
With the assistance of the Rain Gardens Project, Stefanie and her neighbors obtained a grant to build rain gardens on seven properties along the street. Stewardship Partners helped each homeowner with design and construction of the rain gardens. Once the gardens were prepared, the whole neighborhood participated in a big planting day that, as one home-owner said, felt like a “barn-raising.”
La Nina put these gardens to the test this past winter – stop by to learn how they fared on the upcoming Highline Garden Tour, which is featuring the rain gardens along with six other beautiful gardens in the Highline area.
The Garden Tour will take place this coming Saturday, June 9. Advance tickets for the Highline Garden Tour are only $15, with group rates of $12 per person if bought in groups of four or more. Tickets will be $18 on the day of the tour. Tickets can be purchased in Burien at:
- Herr Backyard Garden Center, 107 SW 160th Street
- Burien Bark, 13258 1st Ave South
- Sterling Savings Bank, 224 SW 152nd Street
- Over the phone by calling 206-241-5786
Proceeds from the event benefit the Highline Historical Society.
For more information about the Highline Garden Tour and about the Highline Historical Society, visit www.highlinehistory.org, or “Like” them on Facebook here.]]>
