Author Archives: raingardenuiuc

by Eliana Brown, RORG Team Leader This post covers September 21st – 23rd. SAT, SEP 21: Happy to report that thanks to all the wonderful volunteers last week, we were able to get two-thirds of the garden planted. Pretty great! This does mean that one-third of the plants remain in the greenhouse and need wateringContinueContinue reading “Weekend update…rain!”

by the RORG Team This post covers September 12th – 16th. Disclaimer: the team has been working LONG consecutive days. Planting started September 16th and we are very excited about it. While you’ll read a little about planting here, stay tuned for posts that feature planting in more detail in the next few days! ButContinueContinue reading “A Tense Moment… and Dogs”

by Eliana Brown, Project Leader Tomorrow is a big day for us. Phase II of our project begins and the first plants go in! Juncus effusus in the greenhouse. Photo by Eliana Brown. The RORG team has been working hard to prepare – especially Layne Knoche, who is managing the plant installation. Students in severalContinueContinue reading “Almost planting day”

by Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Wednesday, September 11th. Howdy! With only 3 days of construction left before planting, things are really heating up at the rain garden! There were two crews working at the garden today. While Wayne and Tristan from Grounds spent the day doing some final clean-up of the site including clearingContinueContinue reading “Bridge footings”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Tuesday, September 10th. Howdy! The final countdown begins. Today started the last week of construction* – planting begins next Monday! (*The crew got pulled off yesterday to work on a chilled water line boring – these things happen!) Josh and Mark arrived around 8:30 a.m. to finishContinueContinue reading “It’s the Final Countdown”

by Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Friday, September 6. Howdy, Short update today since I’m about to head to Indianapolis for a tournament this weekend. Today was a solid day at the garden wrapping things up as we prepare for the final week of construction before planting on September 16th. The weather hasContinueContinue reading “Week 6 Progress”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Thursday, September 5th It finally happened! The day we’ve all been waiting for… we finally straightened that crooked bench! Josh and Justin had to leave early this afternoon for another project, so I asked Mark, who is filling in for Stephanie as our operating engineer, to useContinueContinue reading “No More Crooked Bench”

by Layne Knoche, Project Landscape Designer This post covers Wednesday, September 4th. Howdy! One of these days, we’ll find something other than “Today was another productive day at the Rain Garden” to start our blogs, but for now, that’s what you’re gonna get! But as the title states…it was also an impressive day. Concrete workContinueContinue reading “Making an Impression”

by Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Tuesday, September 3rd. Howdy! It was good to be back out at the rain garden today after a long Labor Day weekend. The Facilities & Services crews worked on the hardscaping: concrete sidewalk and the garden’s granite edging. When I arrived this morning, Josh and Stephanie wereContinueContinue reading “Hardscaping work continues (and cookies!)”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer Howdy! We closed out a productive week with a good day at the rain garden. Today’s work included Facilities and Services placing the granite along the edges of the garden and Prof. Art Schmidt’s CEE 458 Water Resources Field Methods installing monitoring conduit. Granite edging: Facilities and Services started by placingContinueContinue reading “Week 5 Progress”