Landscape Architect Articles

The Art and Science of Controlling Water11-02-09 | News

The Art and Science of Controlling Water

By Alrie Middlebrook, President and Founder of Middlebrook Gardens

Images courtesy of Middlebrook Gardens

Keeping water on the site helps calm and soothe people, preserves the local watershed and maintains the aquifer. Alrie Middlebrook, of Middlebrook Gardens advises, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The primary thing Middlebrook Gardens prides itself on doing is keeping all the rainfall that falls on a site on that site. To accomplish this, it is necessary to use different design solutions such as tying in the downspouts. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Break concrete on site into large, stepping stone-sized pieces and relay it on a bed of decomposed granite. You can back-fill the spaces with soil for planting or pea gravel, which allows water to percolate through the hardscape.

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Organic wine maker, Volker Eisley, was asked how he could possibly grow these huge expanses of wine crops and not spray pesticides. He told Middlebrook, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

If there isn?EUR??,,????'?????< Images courtesy of Middlebrook Gardens

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By doing everything we can to capture water and have it return to the underground aquifers, we develop the root systems of the new plants. If clients want a native meadow rather than a lawn, we run the pipes down about 12 to 18 inches under the top of the soil at a two percent grade. That enables dispersal of the water over large areas and slows down the flow of the water.

It is important to create the site according to ecological plant communities, and those depend on micro climates of each part of the plot. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The reason grasses thrived for millions of years and were able to tolerate long periods without water is because they have very intensive root systems. Native bunch grasses have fibrous roots that grab water and allow it to trickle into tiny crevices in the grass?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Capturing run-off by mimicking how nature solves the problem is usually the most effective solution as well as the most economical. Depending on the slope, sometimes the solution may be a retention basin. Other times it may be a seasonal creek. In most cases, finished grade, including subtle and slight changes in topography, will create ways to disperse water over a greater area at a slower rate.

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It is important to accommodate water flow yet keep it off roads. Disturbed sites need to be covered with organic material, then restoratively planted with natives and mulch. Otherwise, you?EUR??,,????'?????<

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We encourage people to grow vegetables, fruit trees, vines and berries such as these elderberries (Milnes Sambuccus) as well. Not only does it mean you include an edible component in the native garden, if you have a riparian system and plant it with a diversity of riparian species, you get diversified insect populations that include both predators and pollinators. Those same predator insects will also manage the food crop monoculture.

Middlebrook Gardens also does pro bono work through the California Native Garden Foundation, which provides pro bono services for schools and community non-profit organizations. It?EUR??,,????'?????<

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