Wetlands

An innovative, pioneering program in partnership with the City of Silverton in which the area's treated water is used to create a thriving wetlands habitat for a variety of wildlife and plants. The water travels at the rate of 300 gallons per minute in peak season through a series of terraced ponds with cascading water, pools and wetlands plants to a holding tank where it then flows into an irrigation system -- a unique and attractive method of using treated water to irrigate The Garden. The wetlands also play an active role in the education programs at The Garden.

Green Guide Stop number eight

Upper Wetlands

Here at the Oregon Garden we use treated wastewater to irrigate our plants.

As much as 700,000 gallons of water daily enter the top of the wetlands from the City of Silverton’s treatment facility. As the water moves through more than 17 acres of ponds, the plants both lower the temperature and remove excess nutrients (excellent fertilizer!).

Years of monthly water quality testing of these ponds have shown a decrease in excess nitrate and phosphorous concentrations from where the water enters the garden to where it gets released. When the water re-enters the watershed at Brush Creek, the nutrient concentrations are almost non-detectable -and thereby safe for our fish friends.

Wetland ecosystems are teeming with biodiversity - you may spot critters such as red-winged blackbirds, herons, wood ducks, native frogs and dragonflies. Be sure to visit both the Upper and Lower Wetland Interpretive Trails.

Learn more about our Green:

To learn more about the innovative ways in which The Oregon Garden is demonstrating environmental, economic, and social sustainability, look for the Green Guide Stop Signs throughout this site or pick up a Green Guide when you arrive at the visitors center and follow the self-guided tour throughout The Garden.