After our March meeting on Stormwater management, Doug Gerleman of Go Green Northbrook was inspired to write this post on keeping rainfall on the property where it falls.
A major cause of the stormwater flooding is the extent of turf grass being used throughout our communities. These lawns don’t absorb much stormwater. The water quickly runs off this grass carrying the lawn’s toxic fertilizer and pesticides/herbicides onto their neighbors’ yards and downstream into waterways and precious wild areas. In the process the turf grass water picks up more toxic chemicals from roads and vehicles.
Home owners should be encouraged to use landscaping techniques to increase water absorption deep into the soil in order to support plants during droughts, and to allow the plant transpiration process to cool buildings and land. This is extremely important as temperatures rise and droughts occur more frequently then in the past.
We need landscaping that replaces some or all of traditional turf grass with ground covers, trees and bushes. It can be much more effective in increasing environmental benefits and decreasing costs for a home owner, a municipality and region than digging holes for more and bigger “sewer” pipes and reservoirs that don’t provide the capacity we need to contain the volume of stormwater we currently experience. It is also the most cost effective and efficient way we can all reduce flooding and restore a healthy suburban landscape filled with birds, butterflies and other life that we used to enjoy. We can also document the cost savings from greatly reduced or eliminated lawn mowing, watering and lawn chemicals. Of course, selecting the right plants is very important (e.g., tolerant of road salt, degree of sun or shade, and wetness).
Municipalities can help by discouraging property owners from sending their stormwater onto neighbors and downstream communities. Many municipalities require landscapes to be graded and piped to move stormwater quickly into a storm sewer, even when the system is over capacity during rainstorms. These pipes often require tree removal or cause significant damage to nearby trees that absorb and transpire water.
In addition to increasing the cost effectiveness of stormwater management, this new landscaping program also supports and increases the diversity of life. Our trees are key indicators of environmental health. They support many other plant, animal and micro-organism species as well as absorbing stormwater and cooling our homes. They are true anchors of local ecosystems. Our Go Green Northbrook “Tree Champion” program is aimed at helping people connect with their environment by surveying parkway and other nearby trees, and getting residents working with municipal staff to protect this essential part of our communities.
I replaced all turf grass in my parkway with sedum and am extending ground cover over my entire front yard. This reduced my maintenance time to one or no annual “mowings”, no removal of plant “waste”, no herbicide or other chemical spraying, and very little watering after the first year. It has also greatly reduced maintenance costs. This new landscape improved the habitat for pollinators and native songbirds! I encourage you to replace some or all of your turf grass with plants and reap the benefits.
