What we’ve learned so far
Too much water can damage a raingarden. This past year we were inundated by huge amounts of sump-pump water from early rains, so much so that the wall of one of our raingardens broke and was shoved over the stone fence adjacent to the eastern edge. Thanks to the Wolf River (WI) Chapter volunteers, we were able to fix the damage during the late summer, but in the meantime our wet mesic plants suffered through a dry spell. We’ll see how they come back this year.
Hail damage doesn’t destroy native plants. We were pleasantly amazed to see that the plants that were so badly beaten by this past summer’s hail storm bounced back. We had cut the stems back to below the damaged areas, and new growth sprouted from the remaining stems – even the blazing star surprised us with this new regrowth.
Speaking of hail damage, the insurance company repaired the damage to our building – replacing the siding, the roof, and the deck in the summer of 2010.
Fence a transplanted tree immediately – don’t wait until the following day. Whether it’s deer or rabbits, or some other species of wildlife, they apparently watch until you walk away, and then they’re there to taste that inviting stem immediately.
Mulch decomposes whether in an unused pile or spread in a garden.
Black-eyed Susans. We scattered black-eyed Susan seeds into our newly planted raingardens with the idea that we would have some blossoms for the public to see the following growing season. Every seed must have germinated, because the black-eyed Susans were definitely the predominant species showing in one of our raingardens. Later we learned from the Tallgrass Restoration Handbook for Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands that “if planted too heavily, some early-successional species such as wild bergamot, common and whorled milkweed, and black-eyed Susan can stunt the emergence of slower-germinating species.” We’ll see what the future brings. Will the black-eyed Susans continue to dominate?
The Home page image for this blog post shows the regrowth after the hail damage to the entrance garden at the WILD Center.
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