Blueflag Iris, Lizard Tail and Butterfly Weed – these are just a few soon-to-be, eye-catching plants that can be found in Bobby Ray’s new wetland garden as it matures.
Eight Warren County High School FFA members helped to establish the wetland garden, working last week to plant 60 wetland plugs, 30 shrubs and 40 perennials.
“It’s a pretty messy process,” said Amy Williamson while standing knee deep in water. “We just finished planting the irises and butterfly weed.”
According to UT Extension specialist Andrea Ludwig, most of the shrubs and perennials were grown locally, while the wetland plants came from North Carolina. She’s hoping to generate interest for people who find this type of challenging scenario with their property.
“We are trying to take that water in the runoff and turn it into something that beautifies the space and layer on some biodiversity and benefits, but we also want to demonstrate that anyone can create backyard habitats that can take on water while providing beautiful visuals,” said Ludwig.
Measuring around 1,300 square feet, Bobby Ray’s wetland garden has three zones – a deep pool, low marsh and high marsh. Each zone features plants that bloom at different times to generate year-round interest.
Plants like the rose mallow, milkweed and butterfly weeds are expected to bloom in the summer, while others will bloom later in the fall.
“We recommend 24 inches of standing water because that will provide a long-term habitat for predator insects like damselflies, dragonflies, and tadpoles so they keep the mosquito population down,” said Ludwig. “When it rains, water is going to kind of inundate that high marsh area and that’s where we have the perennials, but it will dry out in between and then there’s a shrub buffer in the back to delineate the space.”
Besides beautifying the area, Ludwig hopes students will learn the value and biodiversity a wetland garden can bring.
“Students tend to really like the irises and rose mallows because they are in the hibiscus family and some of the blooms are bigger than my hand,” said Ludwig. “I hope they learn that wetlands are really valuable ecosystems. Statewide, we have lost over 50 percent of them that were here historically so every time we lose a wetland, we lose the land’s natural capacity to clean and filter water and provide us clean water for drinking.”
