Toms River Intermediate North students create “Rain Garden”

What has healthy soil, native plants and filters storm water? Join the 8th grade students at Toms River Intermediate North as they dig in and create a Rain Garden in a previously unused courtyard at their school. The Ocean County Soil Conservation District, with funding from NJDEP, is leading the creation of this Rain Garden as part of its initiative to improve the water quality of the Long Swamp Creek, a tributary of Toms River. A rain garden was also planted at Washington Street Elementary School last spring.

The students of Ms. Seavers and Ms. DiFabio 8th grade science classes at Intermediate North have assisted in the design of this garden which will showcase native plants. The courtyard will be further enhanced by an outdoor classroom consisting of two solid oak picnic tables and a teaching podium. These are provided by the Society of American Foresters through the Forestry Resource Education Center who is a key partner in this project.

Rain Gardens are a practical and beautiful solution to water pollution they can transform a landscape on any scale from a school yard to a corporate campus to a home yard. Healthy soils are the foundation of a healthy watershed. Our native soils can be amended with compost material to help hold moisture and have good infiltration rates. By simply restoring the natural physical, chemical and biological functions of soil, rain gardens can filter runoff and help maintain our future water supplies. Go with the flow join the Rain Garden movement! For more information, www.ocscd.org.

Posted by Ocean County News on Dec 3 2011. Filed under Community, Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.