In 2010, when we moved to our current facility in Eugene, Oregon, we knew we needed to address some landscaping issues on the 3.5-acre campus. From a sustainability point of view, there was a lot to love about the new Mountain Rose Herbs facility and grounds, but we were extremely aware of the impact that businesses have on water quality and habitat in their watersheds and communities, and how company decisions regarding landscaping, rain runoff, and storm water management can affect river habitats further downstream.
Because our property is adjacent to Amazon Creek and the Stewart Pond Wildlife Refuge, we had a clear visual every day of the ecosystems most immediately impacted by runoff from the roofs and parking lots on our large campus. We needed a natural way to prevent potentially polluted stormwater from making its way into the creek, refuge, and beyond to our beloved rivers. A bioswale and detention pond were the obvious answers.After the bioswale and detention pond were completed, however, we discovered that, because of the gradient in our facility parking area and driveway, 12% of our stormwater runoff was still overflowing into the municipal system. We dug a rain garden at the front of the property to address this issue. From there, we were able to put a natural landscape design in place to best utilize the various elements of our stormwater containment system to slow runoff and filter 100% of it on our property before it reached the municipal system.
Rooftops, parking lots, roads, and sidewalks all block rainwater from soaking into the ground. As the water sits on these impervious surfaces, it heats up and picks up pollution and debris, which it carries with it into whatever stormwater-receiving creeks and streams ultimately catch the runoff. According to Meghan Murphy, environmental services technician in Springfield, Oregon, bioswales and rain gardens “help to recreate a more natural water cycle by taking that stormwater runoff and allowing it to soak back into the ground as it would have before development happened.”
Both bioswales and rain gardens are vegetated and are specifically designed to capture and absorb stormwater runoff. As the water is captured, it filters down through the plants and porous soil. Pollutants attach to the surface of the soil particles, where they are retained and where roots and bacteria can make use of them. This also gives the water time to cool, so when it ultimately reaches the streams and rivers, it is healthier for riparian habitats, fish, and other wildlife. Bioswales are designed as a long, sloping, landscaped channel or drainage course directing stormwater away from parking lots, curbs, sidewalks, and streets, and giving it time to infiltrate the soil of the swale to remove silt and pollution. A rain garden, meanwhile, doesn’t channel water, but is a vegetated depression designed to naturally capture and slowly absorb runoff, particularly on low gradients.
Today, our storm water system—the rain garden, bioswale, and additional detention pond—manages 11,000 square feet of our stormwater runoff by capturing, cooling, and providing pre-treatment. This system also regularly captures debris from brakes, tires, and road sediment before they enter Amazon Creek. On the remainder of our property, we conserve water with a satellite-controlled irrigation system that helps us monitor our water use. Paired with strategic landscaping using self-sustaining native plants, this system gives us the power to conserve even more water. The completed grounds project has brought us both environmental and economic benefits, including:
Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, our guiding principle is always people, plants, and planet before profit. Our approach to landscaping, rain runoff, and storm water management is part of our recognition that a facility as large as ours has an enormous impact on the environment. Investing in our rain garden, bioswales, and other bioretention landscaping is an investment in the community and the planet we call home.
Bioswales and rain gardens are relatively easy and inexpensive to install, particularly when compared to ongoing landscaping and water use costs. If you think your business, home, or neighborhood would be well served by a bioswale and/or rain garden, check with your city or county government or local watershed council for resources in your area.
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Inside Mountain Rose Herbs, Sustainability
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
In 2010, when we moved to our current facility in Eugene, Oregon, we knew we needed to address some landscaping issues on the 3.5-acre campus. From a sustainability point of view, there was a lot to love about the new Mountain Rose Herbs facility and grounds, but we were extremely aware of the impact that businesses have on water quality and habitat in their watersheds and communities, and how company decisions regarding landscaping, rain runoff, and storm water management can affect river habitats further downstream.
Because our property is adjacent to Amazon Creek and the Stewart Pond Wildlife Refuge, we had a clear visual every day of the ecosystems most immediately impacted by runoff from the roofs and parking lots on our large campus. We needed a natural way to prevent potentially polluted stormwater from making its way into the creek, refuge, and beyond to our beloved rivers. A bioswale and detention pond were the obvious answers.After the bioswale and detention pond were completed, however, we discovered that, because of the gradient in our facility parking area and driveway, 12% of our stormwater runoff was still overflowing into the municipal system. We dug a rain garden at the front of the property to address this issue. From there, we were able to put a natural landscape design in place to best utilize the various elements of our stormwater containment system to slow runoff and filter 100% of it on our property before it reached the municipal system.
Rooftops, parking lots, roads, and sidewalks all block rainwater from soaking into the ground. As the water sits on these impervious surfaces, it heats up and picks up pollution and debris, which it carries with it into whatever stormwater-receiving creeks and streams ultimately catch the runoff. According to Meghan Murphy, environmental services technician in Springfield, Oregon, bioswales and rain gardens “help to recreate a more natural water cycle by taking that stormwater runoff and allowing it to soak back into the ground as it would have before development happened.”
Both bioswales and rain gardens are vegetated and are specifically designed to capture and absorb stormwater runoff. As the water is captured, it filters down through the plants and porous soil. Pollutants attach to the surface of the soil particles, where they are retained and where roots and bacteria can make use of them. This also gives the water time to cool, so when it ultimately reaches the streams and rivers, it is healthier for riparian habitats, fish, and other wildlife. Bioswales are designed as a long, sloping, landscaped channel or drainage course directing stormwater away from parking lots, curbs, sidewalks, and streets, and giving it time to infiltrate the soil of the swale to remove silt and pollution. A rain garden, meanwhile, doesn’t channel water, but is a vegetated depression designed to naturally capture and slowly absorb runoff, particularly on low gradients.
Today, our storm water system—the rain garden, bioswale, and additional detention pond—manages 11,000 square feet of our stormwater runoff by capturing, cooling, and providing pre-treatment. This system also regularly captures debris from brakes, tires, and road sediment before they enter Amazon Creek. On the remainder of our property, we conserve water with a satellite-controlled irrigation system that helps us monitor our water use. Paired with strategic landscaping using self-sustaining native plants, this system gives us the power to conserve even more water. The completed grounds project has brought us both environmental and economic benefits, including:
Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, our guiding principle is always people, plants, and planet before profit. Our approach to landscaping, rain runoff, and storm water management is part of our recognition that a facility as large as ours has an enormous impact on the environment. Investing in our rain garden, bioswales, and other bioretention landscaping is an investment in the community and the planet we call home.
Bioswales and rain gardens are relatively easy and inexpensive to install, particularly when compared to ongoing landscaping and water use costs. If you think your business, home, or neighborhood would be well served by a bioswale and/or rain garden, check with your city or county government or local watershed council for resources in your area.
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Inside Mountain Rose Herbs, Sustainability
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
