Fifty Rain Gardeners, Countless Plants, and One Hungry Skunk

Last Thursday evening, September 4, Genesis of Ann Arbor welcomed about fifty gardening enthusiasts from across Washtenaw County for a special “Pop-Up Rain Garden Tour.” Many of our visitors were leaders in the countywide Master Rain Gardener program, and it was a joy to walk the grounds together, share what we’ve learned, and hear their kind words of encouragement.

The rain garden at Genesis is now in its third year. It was created to solve a serious problem that many of us will remember: during the “100-year” rain of 2012, more than 18,000 gallons of water fell on our property in just ten hours, leading to flooding and water intrusion in the lower level of the building. Even after grading work, heavy rains and snow melts in 2022 again left water pooling around the building.

With the guidance of the Washtenaw County Rain Gardens Program, and the design expertise of Grounds Committee co-chair Sarah Weiss, our volunteers rolled up their sleeves to reshape the land, add drain tile, redirect downspouts, and plant thousands of deep-rooted native plants to soak up and filter the water. Our rain garden now effectively handles stormwater while providing food and a habitat for the pollinators who will keep it blooming year after year.

Jeremy Tieking tends to our rain garden

Preparing to host the tour generated the impetus to tend the space with fresh energy. In just a couple of short weeks leading up to the event, volunteers got dirty pulling up invasive weeds and opening up sunlight for the coneflowers, asters, and other native blooms that give the garden its color and character.

But nature is full of surprises, welcome or not. In the process of weeding, our team uncovered an underground yellow jacket nest directly in the tour path. Yellow jackets can be aggressive. Grounds co-chair Phil Barr got stung a few times! Concerned for our preschool children as well as our visitors, we needed a safe solution, and quickly.

It so happens that separately and recently, the Genesis grounds had been plagued by another resident, a skunk who had taken up shelter elsewhere on our grounds. We came up with the idea that Tilly could help us with our yellow jacket problem. (And yes, her name is "Tilly" and "she" is her preferred pronoun and we suspect that she's pregnant!). The Humane Society came in for the assist relocating her into our rain garden. Overnight, she dutifully dug, found the yellow jacket nest, and then devoured the combs and larvae. By the evening of the tour, the nest was gone and our guests were spared the fate that befell Phil.

We are especially grateful to Bonnie Monash, a rain garden enthusiast with personal ties to both Temple Beth Emeth and St. Clare's, who stepped up to spearhead the cleanup. Her expertise and enthusiasm energized the team and inspired many of us to see the garden with fresh eyes. She was joined by Mark Davis-Craig, Jeremy Tieking, Annette Fisch, and Phil Barr, along with numerous other helping hands. Together, they put in hours of hard work to ensure our gardens looked their best.

In addition to the rain garden, the tour highlighted our new Michigan Native Plant Garden along Eastover, where dozens of volunteers worked this spring to transform an overgrown patch into a vibrant habitat with hundreds of seedlings provided by Seed2Community–Washtenaw. Guests also visited the Food and Faith Vegetable Garden, now in its second season, and our contemplative garden, which has offered a quiet retreat for more than twenty years.

Phil & Sarah present to our guests

We presented our gardens as part of our greater journey to make Genesis sustainable and carbon neutral, such as installing solar panels and improving our building’s energy and water efficiency. These efforts have earned Genesis statewide recognition as a two-time Biggest Loser award winner for reducing resource use.

Most gratifying was the response from our visitors. Experienced gardeners and leaders in the Rain Garden movement offered warm accolades for what has been accomplished here. We are proud of the example our congregations — Temple Beth Emeth, St. Clare's, and Blue Ocean Faith — are setting when we come together with friends and neighbors to steward our shared space.

We welcome volunteers with all levels of experience. Please reach out to Phil Barr, co-chair of the Genesis Grounds Team, to learn more.

---

photos courtesy of Bonnie Monash