Backyard Rainscape
Patricia Newkirk served William Penn House as Associate Director for 6 years. Among her many gifts was the ability to see what this place could be. Her last major project was the rain garden. Working with other staff members she made the backyard rain garden a reality.
How is this.... 
...connected to this?
The more we can build what you see above, the more we can prevent the pollution of the Anacostia river (above).
According to environmental and water quality experts, urban and suburban water runoff are major culprits in polluting and destroying our waterways and watersheds - things we all rely on. The strong recommendation is for all people to convert their home and work property into spaces that absorb water cleanly into the ground rather than run it through streets and sewers.
"Rainscape" is the general term for any designed landscaping that does this. Rainscapes help minimize minimize torrents of water full of toxins and at temperatures that kill wildlife while rushing in such great torrents that erosion chokes the environment. In addition, the trash that collects in the rivers ultimately breaks down chemically and further pollutes the environment.
Here at the William Penn House, we have turned our backyard into a rainscape (as pictured above). A summer of volunteers from DC and around the mid-Atlantic pitched in while also learning about the environment and developing the skills to take back to their own community.
June, 2008: Students from Georgetown Day School lay the foundation (right) and start to build the wall (below) in the garden. First Unitarian Universalist (Wilmington, DE) youth group remove 18 inches of topsoil. The pit is filled with a mixture of sand and stones to serve as the filtration pool.
Rainbarrels also capture water which is used to water the native plants.
Since the completion of the Rainscape, The William Penn House has started to work with a private middle school students in the DC-area to build a rainscape on their grounds. We are also planning to build other rainscapes in the Capitol Hill area as we continue to strive to educate people about the environmental challenges we all face and, most importantly, give them the intellectual tools and physical skills to take action wherever they are.
We welcome visitors to see our backyard, and we will be glad to talk more about options for all people. Here is a video of the backyard:
Much thanks goes to our collaborators in creating the rainscape:
District Department of the Environment who provided lots of advice and a small grant.
Anacostia Watershed Society who have taken our volunteers on tours of the Anacostia river and encouraged us to create our demonstration rainscape.
All our great volunteers which include: First Unitarian Church Wilmington Delaware, Georgetown Day School, Norwood School , Thornton Friends School, Ithaca Unitarian Universalist Society, and many others.
