Rain garden in Campbell soaks up water

January 2, 2016 at 5:52p.m.

CAMPBELL

A demonstration rain garden illustrates the long-term aesthetic and functional uses that demolition sites can serve.

The Mahoning County Land Bank completed in December its first rain garden here. It replaces a dilapidated house demolished in 2015 at 681 Coitsville Road.

Located in the Mahoning River watershed, the rain garden consists of water-absorbent trees, shrubs and ornamental grasses and 31 tons of river rocks, with about two and a half feet of fine, water-absorbent soil beneath the six-to-10-inch layer of rocks.

The spongy surface detains storm water for up to seven days as it releases gradually into the ground.

The goal is to limit the rate and amount of water flowing downhill, thereby limiting soil erosion and flooding, said Maciek Adamczak, the land bank’s landscape contractor. He is the owner of Adamczak LLC of Boardman.

The $17,000 garden, paid for by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which administers land bank demolition funds, also reduces the amount of water going into the storm sewer by detaining water in a pool over the rocks after significant rainfalls.