May Showers... and Bioswale Building

Coming out of the worst winter we've ever had, spring is even more appreciated than it usually is, and it's always wonderful.  It seems a bit late, and we've had a lot of rain lately, so I've gone ahead and had a bioswale installed.  More on that later.

Meanwhile I spent the winter taking the Michigan Master Gardener course and have lately been doing my volunteer hours at things like Plant-a-Row sites, plant sale for Habitat for Humanity and pruning at Tollgate Farm  in Novi.  It's close by and a world unto itself.  They now have some cows, chickens, goats, and a llama in addition to the three horses which were there over the winter.  We had our master gardener classes there.  They've got some wonderful programs including 4H clubs.

Today I went to Cranbrook for their annual plant sale.  I hadn't been in years, but the wild geraniums, trilliums and Mayapples, Podophyllum peltatum, which I bought there have really spread over the years.  Today I bought some more natives which I've put in the ground, except for two heirloom tomatoes which will have to wait for more consistently warm weather.

My biggest project so far has been to get the bioswales installed.  Unfortunately I didn't have anything to do with the installation most of which took place today in the rain.  John DeLisle owns Natural Community Services and he does ecological restoration and native landscaping.  The swale with its native plants should soon begin to capture the rainwater and especially pollutants rather than allowing them to go through the storm drain.

Day 1 of the Bioswale