Bayfield rain gardens planted

Volunteers help plant rain gardens in Bayfield

About 50 students from Huron Centennial and 15 community volunteers work to protect water by planting rain gardens at Pioneer Park in Bayfield 

About 50 students from Huron Centennial Public School in Brucefield and 15 community volunteers from the Bayfield area planted 300 plants at two rain gardens at Pioneer Park in Bayfield on Tuesday, June 21. They did this to help protect local water in the village along Lake Huron’s shores. The installation of the rain gardens is just one way watershed residents continue to implement the community-based Main Bayfield Watershed Plan. 

One of the new rain gardens is at the corner of Tuyll and Colina streets. The other rain garden is at the end of Colina Street.

Rain gardens are shallow, sunken gardens. They are designed to capture water running off of roofs, driveways, and roads during storms. When you plant a rain garden, you may use a variety of native flowers, grasses and shrubs. Native plants are plants that occur naturally in a region. That makes them better suited to local growing conditions. It is the deep roots of these native plants, along with the soil of the rain garden, that help to filter oil, fertilizer and other pollutants from stormwater runoff.

“As stormwater travels towards the lake, it can pick up dirt, oil, fertilizer and bacteria,” said Hope Brock, Healthy Watersheds Technician with Ausable Bayfield Conservation. “By slowing stormwater down, and capturing it in the gardens, we allow the plants and the soil to filter out sediment and pollutants before they reach the lake,” she said. “The more we can hold back the water upstream, the less erosion happens downstream.”

The gardens are a demonstration project. The Pioneer Park Association, the Municipality of Bluewater, Huron County Health Unit, Ausable Bayfield Conservation, and community volunteers are working together on the project. The Province of Ontario provided funding for the gardens with a grant from the Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund. 

The project partners plan to install signs at the gardens. These signs are to inform Bayfield residents and visitors about how rain gardens work and their benefits.

“I hope people will enjoy these gardens and be inspired to create one on their own property,” said Brock. “These types of gardens play an important role in protecting water quality. They also provide habitat and add beauty to our local landscape.” 

To find out more about rain gardens, visit this web page: Rain gardens