FROM a swamp when it rained to a lush garden supplying seasonal herbs and vegetables, the Hutchinsons’ backyard has undergone a remarkable reversal.
“We used to have a lot of flooding and water run-off,” says Robert Hutchinson, of Yarraville.
“It seemed ridiculous for that water to run onto the road and down the drain. When we moved in, the backyard was just lawn and an old footpath.”
The Hutchinsons are winners of Maribyrnong Council’s rain garden competition.
The competition was a Melbourne Water initiative aimed at registering 10,000 storm water-fed gardens across Melbourne.
A rain garden is designed to capture stormwater run-off from hard surfaces such as driveways, patios and roofs.
Layers of sandy soil in the garden slow the rate of water run-off and filter out pollution such as nitrogen and phosphorus, fertilisers, dust, leaves and animal droppings which prevent it from ending up in rivers and creeks.
Mr Hutchinson said that except for a few scorching summer days, they never watered their garden.
More: raingardens.melbournewater.com.au
