A new garden planned at the Greenwood Public Library will be used to teach residents how to be more resourceful when it comes to watering their plants.
The Greenwood Redevelopment Commission approved spending $7,500 on building the garden, including buying plants. The money will come from the city’s tax increment financing, or TIF, districts.
The new addition on the east side of the library will be used to educate residents on how to build and maintain a self-sustaining garden, demonstrating how they can take advantage of rainfall and stormwater runoff as a source for watering their plants. The garden will be set up near the library’s stormwater drains, where it will take water runoff to plants, and the soil will capture and hold the water.
The library participates in a gardening program every year. The new rain garden will be used to educate residents on how to utilize rainfall and stormwater instead of a garden hose or other sources, library director Cheryl Dobbs said.
“It’s kind of a waste to water our garden when we have natural water come onto our property,” Dobbs said.
The stormwater department will lead a multi-part, step-by-step program on how to prepare a rain garden, which includes digging the 18-inch basin and setting up stormwater drains, or gutters, to pour into it, Dobbs said.
