FERNDALE, Wash. — Officials with the Whatcom Conservation District (WCD) have announced they are launching a pilot program to install rain gardens on select Ferndale property “within a block or 2 of Seamount Drive” as a cost-share program.
This pilot program is based on a partnership between the Snohomish Conservation District and the City of Lynnwood that has been installing rain gardens in residential neighborhoods since 2016.
WCD Rain Garden Coordinator Frank Corey said this year’s pilot program will give preference to installing rain gardens in clusters. He expects to build rain gardens for 5 or 6 neighbors who live close together. If all goes well, the program will be continued and expanded in the future.
Corey provided the following examples of rain gardens.
Click for more information
Click for more information
Building the rain gardens will occur later this summer and Corey estimated it would take a day for each property. Property owners can expect to plant appropriate plants next spring.
The WCD is partnering with the Veterans Conservation Corp (VCC), a program that provides veterans with employment opportunities and other resources, to build the rain gardens.
According to WCD officials, rain gardens are highly engineered to provide environmental benefits including filtering oil and grease from driveways, pesticides and fertilizers from lawns and other pollutants before they reach groundwater or storm drains and eventually streams, wetlands, lakes and marine waters. They are also attractive landscaped garden features and provide habitat for beneficial insects and birds.
Corey said interested property owners need only to contact him at fcorey@whatcomcd.org or by phone, 360-410-6864 and he will come out to the property to discuss the feasibility with the property owner.
More information about the pilot program is available on the WCD website.