By Alison Boyer

Having a backyard can be more than just cutting grass; it can be an innovative way to help keep local water bodies clean and also create habitats for local wildlife.  By applying some creativity and not being afraid to get your hands dirty all of this is possible.

Take for example, the benefits of converting your lawn into a well designed rain garden.  Instead of having an everyday yard, you will be providing ecosystem services that help:

• Keep water clean by filtering storm water runoff before it enters local waterways.
• Alleviate problems associated with flooding and drainage.
• Enhance the beauty of individual yards and communities.
• Recharge ground water supplies.

To show how achievable it is to create a rain garden I interviewed Dover resident, Pat McElwee, who has created the exclusively native plant rain garden in her backyard seen above. 

By using only Delaware native plants, her rain garden is able to absorb water more efficiently than it used to and is also able to maintain its stability during drought.

Like most rain gardens, Pat’s collects and filters rainwater runoff from her driveway and roof, which would normally go directly into the St. Jones River.  She is thrilled with how well the rain garden is working; allowing even heavy rains to fully drain within an hour of falling.  Pat says the most positive attribute of having a rain garden in her backyard is the peaceful scenery that attracts butterflies and many other types of wildlife.

This picture of a tree frog resting in a bird house is the perfect example of how a backyard habitat will provide a safe haven for all different types of wildlife.

Another form of peaceful scenery is a backyard habitat.  Backyard habitats:

• Improve water quality
• Conserve water
• Reduce habitat fragmentation
• Improve air quality
• Minimize impact of sprawl
• Provide a safe haven for wildlife

This photo was taken at Wendy Aycoth's backyard habitat garden.  Wendy is another Delaware resident who uses her backyard as a way to help improve the environment.  She has lived in her home for 35 years and truly enjoys gardening.  More than half of the plants in her backyard habitat are native to the area and she maintains a compost pile to cut down on the extra cost of buying fertilizers.  Instead of using pesticides she combines cayenne pepper, garlic and water to spray on her plants.  

One small garden in Wendy Aycoth's yard serves as a meeting ground for all kinds of butterflies, including this swallowtail.

Wendy’s backyard habitat helps reduce emissions to the atmosphere too because it cuts down on the need for lawn mowing.  Her beautiful safe haven for wildlife improves water quality by trapping runoff and filtering it before it goes into local water bodies.  Most of all, Wendy’s backyard habitat is a peaceful and relaxing get-away from the everyday bustle of life.

Both a rain garden and a backyard habitat are great ways to involve everyone in the family.  From young to old, and everyone in between, nobody can resist beautiful scenery and the joy of providing a home for local wildlife. 

 

For more information visit http://www.delawarenaturesociety.org/bwh.html
or contact Laura.Whalen@state.de.us