Rainwater 4 Resilience Community Hub Demos - The Six Resilient Practices
Groundcovers are plants that are good at spreading out or knitting together to form a carpet that can mimic the quiet look of a lawn, or just lay low to let other taller showstoppers in your garden have centre stage. They are good at keeping weeds out and looking great without watering or herbicides. They often flower.
Native flowering perennials support the needs of local pollinators and are a cheerful dose of nature. They are adapted to local moisture levels, climate and soil conditions, needing little in the way of maintenance but an annual haircut. For the most part, they don’t need added fertilizer or staking, pruning, and deadheading.
Alternative turfs are grasses that are more drought tolerant, require less or no mowing, and are often more tolerant of shade than conventional grasses. Reducing the size of your lawn and using more suitable species that don’t need watering reduces demand on costly and finite potable water.
Rain gardens are planting beds that are depressed by 10 cm to capture runoff from a hard surface, usually a roof. They reduce overland flooding while supporting a wider range of plants than xeriscaping typically allows, while breaking down contaminants and making use of nutrients, which can lead to harmful algal blooms.
Ornamental grasses are all the rage these days, and there are some natives worth knowing and considering for your garden. Even though a good part of Alberta is a grassland, can you name any local species? Like their flowering counterparts, grasses need little more than an annual haircut.
Native shrubs can be integrated into planting beds or be used on their own as hedges, screens, focal points, and more. They provide shelter and food for local creatures. Like their perennial counterparts, they are low maintenance and are often among the first to green up in the spring, adding architectural presence.
Watch our rain garden explainer video: