Blog Post

No one wants to deal with a flooded basement or maneuver around submerged streets after a storm. Unfortunately, the risk of flooding increases with suburban development—native vegetation, soil, and landscape depressions that store stormwater are replaced with impermeable surfaces such as roads, parking lots, and rooftops. Rainwater easily runs off these surfaces, putting more strain on our waterways and stormwater infrastructure. Detention ponds, also called detention basins or retention ponds, are important structures that help prevent flooding. A detention pond…

What is the purpose of a detention pond? A stormwater detention pond, or detention basin, is a man-made pond in residential and commercial areas that collects stormwater run-off from surrounding landscapes, roads, and rooftops. The detention pond temporarily holds stormwater until it slowly releases into a local waterway. Depending on its design, some detention basins are dry-bottomed and all the water drains between storms. Some are more pond-like and hold open water all of the time. Finally, some are more…

Adding Native Plants to Your Landscape Looking to add native plants to your landscape this spring? While adapted to our area, native plants have preferences on where they’d like to be planted. Below are tips to consider when adding natives to your yard: When designing your landscape: Pay attention to the different types of native plants in your area. What have you seen thriving outside your local library or in your neighbor’s yard? Each native plant is adapted to specific…

Native Plants 101 Native plants have increased in popularity over the years but there can be some confusion on what a native plant actually is. Native plants have evolved and adapted physically, chemically, and genetically to their local environment for a thousand years or more and are vital parts of the ecosystem. If a plant is cultivated from a native plant, it is no longer considered to be native since it has been taken from the wild and altered for…

Adding Native Trees to your Landscape Are you looking to add trees to your yard this spring? Native trees are a great way to enhance your landscape while adding benefits to the environment in return. Native trees have grown and adapted with the local environment and wildlife for thousands of years and are important to the local population and ecosystem. Benefits of Native Trees Stormwater: Native trees have developed a deep root system over the years to adapt to floods…