Garden Consultancy & Training
Garden Consultancy & Training
Creating green, fun and educational play spaces to get children and adults thinking about rainwater, wildlife and nature. Wendy Allen’s recent rain gardens incorporate water play and natural play, dramatic overhead arcs, eye-catching downpipes, water butts, rain planters, bug hotels, green roofs, vegetable beds, sandpits, wildflowers and biodiverse planting.
See also Rain Planters and Downpipes, About Rain Gardens and About Green Roofs.
Completed in July 2021, this Rainscape was designed for Action for the River Kennet (ARK) and formed part of their Sparkling Streams project. Led by Wendy Allen, the build involved ARK volunteers and community members with local contractors kindly providing time.
With a curved galvanised corrugated steel arc as a central feature, rainwater runoff from over 60m2 of roof is channelled down a slope and into a planted rain garden, where it slowly infiltrates into the soil.
The rain garden also acts as a natural play area with local sarsen stone boulders, log bridges, stepping stones, willow dens (one by Angela Morely), a drilled wood bee post and a dead hedge for wildlife habitat. A small deck made from UK recycled plastic allows access to a water butt with hand pump for water play.
Because rain gardens are SuDS components (Sustainable Drainage Systems), water is only present for 12-24 hours after very heavy rain. Plants tolerate short periods of both water logging and drought.
The Sparkling Streams Project aims to restore chalk streams in the Kennet Catchment. Co-ordinated by North Wessex Downs AONB, the Sparkling Streams Project Partnership also comprises Action for the River Kennet (ARK), Hungerford Town and Manor and the Southern Streams Farmers Group. Funded by The Green Recovery Challenge Fund.
Charlotte Hitchmough (Director Action for the River Kennet), talks to James Ingram BBC South Today about rainwater, sewage and slowing the flow on a walk through the Shalbourne Primary School rain garden designed by Wendy Allen. A curved galvanised arc, water play and stepping logs/boulders for natural play feature in this rainscape at Shalbourne Primary School, Wiltshire
It was a great experience designing and creating this rain garden with boardwalk, stepping stones, natural play boulders, water butts, sandpit & mud play and wildlife pond area with UK Rivers Trust Action for the River Kennet.
This creative use of SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) will benefit the rare habitat of the local chalk stream as well as acting as an educational and play resource.
St Michael's School, Aldbourne parents, grandparents and teachers, and many community volunteers & local businesses all generously gave their time to complete the build.
Boardwalk and plants/trees were kindly donated from Thames Water & Garden Club London's gold medal winning 'Flourishing Futures' garden at the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival 2019.
Funded by ARK - Action for the River Kennet Rainscapes project, St. Michael's School Aldbourne, and Thames Rivers Trust. More images from this project can can be found on @wendyallendesigns facebook page.
Designed by Wendy Allen for Action for the River Kennet in 2018, Wendy also led teams of volunteers together with Action for the River Kennet and the school to create this space.
The garden at this school features:
Rain garden – a shallow planted depression with adaptable plants which tolerate periods of drought and waterlogging.
A dramatic galvanised steel arc taking water from the gutter directly into the garden.
A galvanised steel walkway bridge and stepping stones which enable children to cross the rain garden and view the plants.
An 800L water butt captures water from a roof for water play and watering, any excess overflows to the rain garden to infiltrate slowly.
A wildlife habitat area with a play-grade barkchip surface, containing a curved dead hedge, a log pile, a bug hotel made from stacked wooden pallets.
The existing hedge was laid and improved to create a species rich hedgerow, a habitat listed on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The hedge has been laid in a Midland style by local hedgelayer David Bolt, and now contains hawthorn, buckthorn, field maple, crab apple and hazel.
Baydon Rain Garden October 2019. Designer Wendy Allen.
Funded by Action for the River Kennet, this Rainscape included interconnected stormwater planters made from cattle troughs, a water wheel and a small (but perfectly formed) rain garden and bridge.
Designed by Wendy Allen and built with the much valued help of Action for the River Kennet volunteers, the school and local community.
Fitting in well to the new pre-school garden, my design for a brightly-coloured downpipe, ending in a watering can which empties onto a green roof - a BinDock from The Front Yard Company. This in turn overflows down a rain chain to a stormwater planter (a ladybird tractor tyre). In periods of heavy rainfall, the rainwater can be diverted back down the original downpipe.