Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) program offers beautiful nature-based solutions to restore imperiled native plant communities, protect clean water and support resilient coasts and communities. By installing strictly the proper native plants, OFGs help restore the natural functions of healthy watersheds by contouring landscapes for rainwater retention, directing water back into the ground/plant roots instead of storm drains. The extensive root systems of native plants help naturally filter excess nutrients/pollutants, sponge up extra water while restoring biodiversity to our urban landscapes.
On Friday, April 26, a local company volunteered and worked in coordination with Space Coast Surfrider and the town of Indialantic, FL to convert a lifeless, seventy foot sodded swale into a beautiful rain garden/bio swale. This improved swale will provide additional storm water capture for the town, capture pollutants before entering the imperiled Indian River Lagoon, and capture and store carbon and provide habitat restoration for pollinators, birds and wildlife.
Additionally, several species used in the restoration were state listed, threatened or endangered native plants that are appropriate for the their locations within the swale garden. Furthermore, these native plants are primarily species found in the exceedingly rare Florida Coastal Subtropical Hammocks. Interestingly enough, this planting, and others like it in Indialantic, offer an opportunity to reestablish some of these imperiled plants at the northern edge of their zone 10 ranges. Also noteworthy, all landscaping materials used were from sustainable sources.
Plants used for this project included: Spice Wood; Blolly; Bahama Strong Bark; Willow Bustic; Grey Leaf Tea Bush; False Mastic; Walter’s Viburnum; Rosin Flower; Snow Square Stem; Muhley Grass; Sand Cord Grass; Falkahatchee Grass; Leavenworth’s and Chapman’s Goldenrod
