Snack-able Rain Garden in Clive

Earlier this year Clive rolled out its new stormwater assistance program 

City of Clive's 

NEWLY UPDATED 

Stormwater Assistance Program

We shared their website on our social media, and soon after, we were contacted about installing a rain garden close to our office.  The first one using their new program.

The homeowner wanted to help by reducing her runoff and is making steps to become more environmentally responsible with her property - less spraying and more habitat.  However, she isn't fond of the wild, "prairie look" and hoped for something "tidy" looking.

Keeping this in mind, much of the basin floor was covered with low growing sedges for a clean palette.  As the eye travels towards the back and berm, we added a bit more diversity to try to maximize time with blooming plants, balancing that by keeping the number of different species lower.

And, as much as possible she wanted to include lots of edible and food producing plants.  We mentioned this fun project earlier!

We do have a fair amount of smaller native plants with edible fruit such as serviceberry and gooseberries, so we used two of each!  Although not in this project elderberry, paw paw and hazelnuts would be good native options too.  We also included strawberries, asparagus and some herbs.

We were sold out of strawberries, thanks to Iowa Backyard Farmer for these!

A rain barrel was also on the project wish list, too.  She chose a barrel that she found online, which matched the house well, but was a little different for us to install.

The overflow was directed down the front and the online reviews didn't make me feel confident we could drill into the side without damaging it.

We removed the existing downspout extension, to make mowing easier, and buried a drain tile in its place with a popup.

Before installing the stand and stabilizing rock, I ended up putting in a perforated tile under the overflow.  This was connected to the downspout tile we buried.  

I used larger river rock there, to hide that pipe, and also allow the overflow water in where it was directed into to the downspout tile and popup.

While I worked on the rain barrel, the guys started burying the downspouts and excavating for the catchment basin and berm.

Once the basin was dug, the amended soil was added, and inlet/outlets were armored.  The plants were put in, watered well and mulched.

For the final reveal and walk through, her sister was visiting and invited along.  They shared some family stories, and both agreed that they "absolutely love it!"

Since the strawberries are everbearing, and were already growing well, they have produced enough for a treat every few days! 🍓🍓🍓

ISWEP 2024 Private Organization of the Year Award

PRESS RELEASE - The Iowa Stormwater Education Partnership (ISWEP) is pleased to announce their 2024 award recipients.  On September 10, 2024 awards were presented at the Iowa Water Conference in Coralville, Iowa.  

Jeff Reiland of Abundant Design in the Des Moines area accepted the Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Private Organization of the Year Award.   This award recognizes the leadership provided by Abundant Design for the design and installation of green infrastructure including Drake University and Easter Lake Watershed projects.   Practices that were installed included bioretention cells, bioswales, and rain gardens.  They are commended for their commitment to improving local water quality.

The City of Grinnell, represented by Daniel Ramos, Jan Anderson, and Greg Roth of Veenstra and Kimm accepted the Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Jurisdiction of the Year Award.  This award recognizes the City of Grinnell for the Arbor Lake and English River-Dug Out Creek watershed projects that included permeable pavement, native landscaping, a bioswale, and stream restoration.  They are commended on their partnership effort with Iowa DNR, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Grinnell School District, and RC Properties and their commitment to improving local water quality and flood management.

John Swanson of Polk County accepted the Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Partner of the Year Award.  This award recognizes John Swanson and Polk County for the Fourmile Creek Public-Private Wetland Project. Four Mile Creek is an important watershed for Polk County and improving water quality while reducing flooding potential is a priority. Aside from the significant improvements in water quality entering Four Mile Creek resulting from the installation of a wetland, what is unique about this project is the public-private partnership between Eychaner Properties, Polk County, and the City of Ankeny. Polk County funded the design and construction of the project through a combination of grants from IDALS, the Iowa Finance Authority, and ARPA funds.

Greg Pierce of RDG Planning and Design in Des Moines accepted the Stormwater Advocacy Award for providing outstanding advocacy and technical guidance on state stormwater legislation.  He is recognized for his steadfast dedication in creating and promoting effective statewide stormwater design guidance.  This carries through to his passion for protecting and improving Iowa’s water resources. Greg provides great leadership in updates to the Iowa Stormwater Management Manual.  We appreciate his dedication to advancing stormwater design in Iowa.  His tireless leadership that was provided during the past two years during the Iowa legislative session is greatly appreciated.  

Pictures of award presentations by Pat Sauer and Loulou Dickey of the Iowa Storm Water Education Partnership -

Abundant Design - Jeff Reiland
Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Private Organization of the Year

City of Grinnell - Daniel Ramos, Jan Anderson, and Greg Roth
Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Jurisdiction of the Year

Polk County - John Swanson
Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Partner of the Year

Greg Pierce of RDG Planning and Design
Stormwater Advocacy Award

More pictures from the 2024 Iowa Water Conference (here)

Thank you Iowa Storm Water Education Partnership for this recognition and thank you to all our great customers for letting us create your beautiful and functional landscapes!

2024 Iowa Water Conference

More pictures from the 2024 Iowa Water Conference -

Welcome! on the big screen & one of several 'Ding' Darling cartoons on display

Topsoil - sadly our biggest export 

Nitrogen, nitrates and health

ISWEP Urban Stormwater and Watershed Protection Private Organization of the Year

Above photo courtesy of the Nevada FFA's Kevin Cooper, 

winner of Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance's Individual Impact Award

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nevada FFA (@nevadaiaffa)

Thank you to the Iowa Storm Water Education Partnership and the other great organizations working to conserve our water and other natural resources!

And thank you to all of our great customers for letting us create your beautiful and functional landscapes!

Fall is for Trees!

As summer winds down and school starts back up for many, it may feel like the party is over... but with cooler temperatures comes a beautiful time of year, full of warm colors, falling leaves and favorite sporting events.

Fall is also a GREAT time to plant trees!  Planting in the Fall can set your new trees and shrubs up for long term success, with less stress than summer and beneficial root growth for a head start next season.

Cooler autumn temperatures help reduce transplant stress and moisture loss.  As long as the soil temperature is above 50°F the roots of the tree are still growing.  This extra time, typically into mid-November in Iowa, enables roots to get some extra growth before going fully dormant.

Soil Temperature & Garden Plants 

Autumn's arrival might even bring more rain than the hot and dry weather we've had lately and typical of late summer.  Combine this with the cooler temperatures and your trees might not use as much water as they would during the spring growth spurt and summer heat.  Even during the fall your newly planted tree will still require watering, however, especially to hydrate the subsoil well going into winter. 

"The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, and the next best time is now!"

One thing to consider is that these recommendations are for potted or container trees.  We don't plant dormant bare-root material in the fall in our climate.  They are hard to keep from drying out and winter will almost certainly kill a bare-root tree planted too late in fall in the North.  Early spring is a much better time to plant bare root trees!

When winter arrives your care activities can "chill out" for a few months, but...  

You'll want to keep young trees protected from deer and rabbits (more on that here)

Ask an Arborist: Why Should I Plant in the Fall? (youtube.com)

You might be wondering "How do I plant a tree well?"  Here is a quick overview of how we plant our trees-

Step 1 - Dig hole to a depth of 2" less than the rootball height and twice as wide.  You want the root crown just above the surrounding soil.

Step 2 - Remove the container and break up/cut any pot bound/circling roots, place in hole, and backfill about halfway.  Make sure tree is straight and plum.

Step 3 - Deeply water around the tree letting the water settle the soil. Finish backfilling and watering.

Step 4 - If needed tie up tree for stability.  Two T-posts at the North and South sides, driven outside of the excavated area, are usually enough.  Tie using wide straps with enough tension to allow flexing to strengthen trunks, but not so loose to tip or lean in strong winds.

Step 5 - Mulch in a ring 4'- 6' in diameter, 3-4” deep with hardwood mulch.  Leave several inches between the mulch and trunk to prevent fungal infection.  

Avoid the mulch volcano... instead go for a mulch donut!

Over the next few weeks and months observe and water as necessary until the tree is fully established. 

Water daily for 1-2 weeks; then 2-3 days for 3-12 weeks; then weekly until established

Apply 1-1.5 gallons per inch of caliper (trunk diameter) at each watering

If the ground does happen to thaw in winter, it would be a good idea to try and see if you can get some water to your young tree.  Winter's drying winds can evaporate moisture from the soil, especially if we don't have a protective blanket of snow.

A smaller tree will take nearly a full growing season to become fully established.  A 2" tree may require two years to become fully established on its own while a 3" tree may need three years. The larger the tree, the bigger the shock so continue to be diligent and observant even long after the initial planting and water accordingly.

"A society grows great when old men plant trees under whose shade they know they’ll never sit."

Need help planning and planting this fall?  Abundant Design offers Consultation, Design, Installation, and Stewardship services.  The fall offers a great opportunity to plant, and it’s also a great time to start planning and designing for next season.  We can help!

Sod ...but it's Prairie!

Earlier this year the Polk County Water Resources team asked us to help with a special project.  They were hoping to try a new prairie sod product they had learned about by webinar.  There was a small drainage easement near Ankeny that was a likely candidate for this project, and the neighboring homeowners had been fighting weeds and water issues for several years while trying to maintain the space.

Before - First Look
Messy drainage easement from the outlet

Many suburban developments have a drainage easement that runs along the back property edges.  A lot of homeowners can have issues with poor turf grass quality and drainage issues in these areas, especially if the grading is variable at installation or settling over time.  These issues usually get worse as you get closer to the end.

With steady Spring rains delaying cutting, a communication mix-up and surprise shipping date, the schedule was in a bit of a kerfuffle, but we rearranged our plate and things turned out ok.  Pfew!

The existing sod was cut and removed, using it to patch in some rougher spots along the neighboring lot.  Looking at these pictures is a reminder of how much turfgrass there was.  

Those rolls were heavy too!

Pallets of the new sod arrive at the job site.  The plants were well rooted into the mat material.  Even though it seemed shallow, there were many species (guessing the deeper-rooted ones) were seedlings mixed in with the taller grasses, sedges and quick growing black-eyed susans.  Our little dump trailer has moved a lot of material over the years!

Native Prairie Sod, delivered and untarped

The Prairie Sod was installed and pinned, with extra pins and rock armor near the storm drain outlet.  We also rearranged the boulders to make mowing easier for the homeowner around the outlet.

Native Prairie Sod

And why would it not rain during the installation?  Rain days hit us hard when our projects are typically right in "the line of fire", or flooding in our case.

Eventually it dried out enough for work to continue!  Time to rearrange the boulders...

This, along with the sod laid at the Public Works facility, will be a good test case for the water resource team to assess feasibility of using native sod in stormwater projects.  It provides instant coverage, many good-sized plants from day one, a few early bloomers in flower, with others soon to follow.  It has lots of water flow down and across the site, typical clay soil and full sun.

After - Prairie Sod

I could see us using this for similar products in the future as it seems like a great solution for large projects, new construction and commercial parking or neighborhood detention basins.  I also imagine, at least on some of our projects, we might design an intentional planting of selected natives as a border and to lead the eye into the "wilder" look of prairie sod like this.

After - Overlooking the easement from above the stormwater outlet

Water Water Everywhere #3 - How NOT To Do It

Iowans are dealing with heavy rains and record setting tornado activity this season compared to the drought like conditions of the last couple years.

Funnel cloud over our jobsite about 30min after I left last Tuesday

Northwest Iowa has been hit especially hard with flooding with several counties declared Federal Disaster areas.

Record flooding inundates northwest Iowa, prompts evacuations, isolates one city - NBC News

'The devastation is severe and it's widespread': Gov. Reynolds  - Siouxland Proud News

Read to the end for ways you can help!

Last year headlines were filled with flash flooding and the Atmospheric River over California.

California faces flooding, mudslides as rain storm inundates state – ABC News

In this third installment of the Water Water Everywhere Series, I originally wanted to share some Simple Solutions, but before I do I think it is fitting to contrast it first with What NOT To Do!

Before you continue, you might want to check out the first two articles-

Water Water Everywhere #1 - Runoff & Flooding

Water Water Everywhere #2 - Water Quality & Impact

Over the last couple years, I've tried to bring awareness to the problems of increasing runoff - 

Flooding, Pollution, Desertification and more...  

Today I share the thoughts of a friend of mine, that he shared on social media awhile back during another Natural Disaster.  I forget which one now, likely Hurricane Katrina, but his words stuck with me.  It is scary how it seems we have actually taken steps to make ourselves and communities Less Resilient and More Fragile.

The following is from a post by Ben Falk, a well-known Permaculture Designer and Author.  Ben and I have swapped seeds and plants, and I enjoyed watching his excellent Permaculture Skills DVD course several year ago.

"Design for brittleness rather than resiliency - ahhh "natural" disasters - they always make it so starkly clear. If humanity wants to multiply - rather than reduce - the affects of disasters, we couldn't be doing a better job:

 

Step 1: Concentrate population densities in the lowest-lying coastal areas after draining them of their storm surge-absorbing wetlands and estuaries. Make sure it's also the most active hurricane path on the planet. Bonus points for making sure other ...fast-growing regions have the opposite problem - NO water.

Step 2: Pump as much carbon and other climate destabilizing gasses from the geosphere into the atmosphere as possible.

Step 3: Turn as much permeable, cooling, green landscape into black, impervious pavement and rooftops as possible. Concentrate all stormwater runoff. Bonus points for mixing it with sewage when it rains really hard. Double bonus points for lawn. Triple bonus round for golf courses and shopping malls. Quadruple bonus points for destroying town centers in favor of strip development.

Trash in Yeader Creek (and "yes it looks like this every time it rains")
Photo courtesy of Julie Perreault – Polk Soil & Water Conservation District 

Step 4: Ensure all new development is built with total dependence upon active air conditioning. Bonus points for glass high rises with non operable windows - vertical greenhouses without, you know, the plants. Double bonus points for failing to put passive air cooling in nursing homes, hospitals and emergency shelters.

 

Step 5: Don't harvest or store any drinking water locally. Ensure total dependence on government emergency shipments of tiny bottles of water when none is available. Bonus points for polluting all surface waters so they can't be drank. Double bonus points for contaminating ground water aquifers.

Step 6: Rebuild and do it all over again. Bonus points for getting government grants. Double bonus points for growing the economy to attract more people to "hard hit" regions so that it will be even worse the next time around."

So, how do you think are we doing?

Watch for the next post in the Water Water Everywhere series as we look at real solutions for homeowners, farmers and anyone concerned about clean water.

Water Water Everywhere #4 - Real Solutions

Until then, Ben has a revision of his book The Resilient Farm and Homestead.  You can hear him talk about it on Episode #3427 of the Survival Podcast and order it HERE or at Chelsea Green Publishing.

If you would like to help the people in NW Iowa you can donate and/or volunteer with-

Convoy of Hope  or  8 Days of Hope

Pollinator Week 2024

Happy National Pollinator Week!  June 17-23, 2024!

A Zebra Swallowtail butterfly visited our job site last week.  We have seen a few butterflies fluttering around this year, but not a lot. No Monarchs yet... There has been a good variety and a lot more bees though.  Bees and wasps have been visiting our flowers at home for a while now, too.  They are beautiful to watch, but also very important parts of our ecosystem!

Did you know that pollinators, like bees, butterflies, bats, birds, and more, are estimated to play a key role in one of every three bites of food we eat?  Everything from berries to melons, apples and tomatoes, pumpkins, alfalfa that dairy and beef cows eat, even coffee rely on pollinators for pollination.

The Power of Pollinators on YouTube

You can BEE a friend to pollinators this week and throughout the year, Pollinator Week is for everyone!

Here are some ways you can help:

1. Plant a pollinator-friendly garden using native flowers, providing water and avoiding pesticides.

We can Help You, Help Them!  Contact Us!

2. Support your local beekeepers and farmers by buying local honey, produce and meat.

Honey by Hand,

The Watershed Mitigation Farm at Cherry Glen Farm and

The Holton Homestead

3. Provide nesting habitat and materials for butterflies, native bees, bats and hummingbirds.

Buy a Bat House using this LINK

Do Butterfly Houses Work?    What about hummingbird boxes?

4. Support pollinator conservation actions in your hometown, like Plant.Grow.Fly, and get kids involved!

5. Tag your social media #PollinatorWeek and share with others about pollinators and how they can help.

Secluded Woodland Oasis & Gardens

After their new addition was built, these Urbandale homeowners saw it as their chance to include some new outdoor elements they wanted instead of just repairing the construction damage.

Patio, bench wall, garden beds and stream behind

It included a patio with bench walls and a firepit, vegetable and herb gardens.  A dry stream directs stormwater runoff to a pair of rain gardens.

Upper rain garden basin ready for planting

Bridge set over the rain garden outlet
to access the existing woodland paths

In the production area, herb beds run along the access path at ground level and are just at the edge of the available sunshine.  The raised vegetable beds benefit from being a bit farther away from the house's shadow, and being elevated helps to get more sun on them too.  Trellises were also added for some vertical growing space.  

The block used on these beds is durable, looks great
and compliments the patio and bench walls!

The garden beds were going in near an existing Hackberry tree and I was concerned about tree roots invading and stealing water and nutrients from them.  

See how we addressed the Tree Root issue HERE!

A Rain Barrel catches rain for use in the gardens

The rain barrel overflows into the downspout drain that connects to the lower rain garden basin behind the raised beds.  Shade loving plants were predominantly used throughout the rain garden plantings - columbine, woodland phlox, sedges and wild geranium.  A few pockets got more sun, so we could try for some more color using part sun and native savannah plants - cardinal flower and bee balm.

Thanks to Beemer Landscaping on the hardscaping assist!

We also cut and removed lots of invasive honeysuckle filling several dump trailers worth.

Reusing saved materials was high on the list of customer desires.  The patio stone was selected to match pavers leftover from a previous landscaping project.  These existing pavers were incorporated into the access path to the side yard, gardens and rain barrel.

Leftover pavers and stone from a previous
project we used for edging and steppers

Several pallets of assorted limestone served as edging along the access path above, and a walking path expansion loop through the side yard along a new planting bed and retaining wall.

Dark trap rock contrasts well against pale limestone,
but it's dusty!

The construction access was cleared of wood chips last fall.  After the temporary driveway was used for a needed tree removal, it was dormant seeded this Winter with a customized woodland sedge and wildflower mix.  Timing was perfect with 4" of snow falling that night.

We love how it has turned out so far, and excited for fresh growth and blooms this season!