Environment-Friendly Gardening

Biofiltration

One of the major goals of the Growing Vine Street project is to encourage recognition of water as an integral part of our lives. With this recognition comes an acknowledgement of responsibility. Squandering or misusing this precious resource will seriously damage all of us - and our descendants.

Therefore, one of the project's themes is the cleansing of storm water runoff through biofiltration. As stated earlier in Growing Vine Street Revisited 2004, biofiltration is the process of exposing polluted water to sunlight, soil, and vegetation to biologically alter and absorb pollutants, thereby improving water quality. On Vine Street, as the streamlet flows through the vegetated runnel, different plants will work in various ways to purify the water. Please see the "Vegetation: Biofilter Plantings" section for a list of suggested plants to be used for this purpose.

Water Conservation

The Growing Vine Street project not only cleans water, it conserves it as well.

The Growing Vine Street plan calls for large cisterns to be constructed in each block to collect roof runoff. Although much of the water they collect will, of course, be channeled into the runnel, each cistern will be equipped with a spigot for irrigating the landscaped areas. At each cistern, posted signs will warn that the water is not potable.

Although Growing Vine Street is experimenting with large cisterns on a grand scale, "rain barrel" gardening - using barrels instead of cisterns - is an environment-friendly, cost-effective practice that has been used by generations of Northwest gardeners. Because it helps reduce demands on both the area's water supply and treatment system, King County has developed a website explaining the benefits of this conservation measure and how gardeners can set up their own system. See rain barrels for more information on this subject.

Sustainable Gardening

Biofiltration and water conservation are the two environment-friendly gardening features Growing Vine Street has built into its plan. However, there are many other smart gardening practices that will be used to make Vine Street's landscaping more sustainable.

One of the most important is the selection of plants to be used along the runnel. Native plants - being already adapted to our climate - often require less care. In an environment such as the runnel, however, they must also be able to withstand inundation as well as occasional dry periods. A major function of the Growing Vine Street project is serving as an experimental laboratory to help determine which plant materials are suitable for this purpose.

Composting, mulching to promote healthy soil, employing proper watering techniques, and choosing the right plants for the location all promote sustainable gardening. Examples of these and many other techniques are being demonstrated year-round in the Belltown P-Patch, adjacent to the Cistern Steps. Also, King County has prepared Natural Yard Care, a pamphlet describing many of these smart gardening practices, which can be found here.