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The wetland garden’s origins
began at the 1997 Philadelphia Flower show as the Ambler exhibit called
“Green Machine,” which demonstrated native plants’ natural ability to
cleanse fouled water. This award-winning exhibit was salvaged from the
show and was installed on campus by students in 1998 as the newest
addition to the Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler. Swales
and gutters were constructed to guide stormwater run-off from nearby
buildings into the wetland garden.
Five different
topographic zones with different moisture levels are represented in the
conception of the wetland. Plant varieties were picked by their
adaptability to these topographic conditions, for their aesthetic value
and for their benefits to local wildlife. For a plant list click
here. A solar pergola was used to
create the impression of enclosure within the wetland. Photo-voltaic
panels frame the pergola and power a pump that circulates fountain water
through an aerial aqueduct. Recycled glass, called cullet, is used as
exposed paving.
The benefit of this
wetland garden can be summarized in ecological, hydrologic, and
aesthetic terms. Rose Creek used to take the brunt of the area’s
stormwater runoff, which caused erosion on its streambeds and
sedimentation. The installation of a wetland garden has downgraded the
hazards of flooding. Run-off from surrounding impervious surfaces
normally would bombarding the shallow creek beds with insupportable
stormwater velocity. This wetland garden collects rainwater from 5
surrounding acres and recharges the local hydrologic system. Native
plants in the garden have extensive root systems that absorb more water
than traditional sod. Water quality is also improved since the plants
have the natural ability to filter pollutants before replenishing local
water tables.
The site where the
wetland garden now stands was previously not more than a mud puddle.
More than 300 plant varieties now serve as habitat for animal life and
insects, while it provides a beautiful and quiet site of repose for
students. Students benefit also from ongoing research on the site, where
they study the ability of plants to break down pollutants, plant species
survival rates, water quality and erosion amelioration in connection
with Rose Creek, and other ecological variables. The wetland
garden will be the focus of academic study for years to come.
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County:
Montgomery
Watershed: Wissahickon Creek
Temple Ambler is located at
580 Meetinghouse Road in the borough of Ambler, a suburb of
Philadelphia. The Ambler campus is home to Temple’s Horticulture,
Community and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture departments.
The wetland garden is
located down a flight of stairs from the plaza between Widener Hall and
Cottage Hall. Within the lush verdure emerges a small courtyard where
visitors can sit and listen to the sound of the birds and rushing water
from a sculpture fountain.
Rose
Creek, a tributary to Wissahickon Creek, flows through the
landscape of the Ambler Campus.
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