Native Plant Garden Coming to Scarsdale

A happy by-product of flooding in Scarsdale will be the development of a rain garden at Cooper Green, across the street from the public safety building on Fenimore Road. The construction of this garden is one segment of the South Fox Meadow Stormwater Improvement Project that has already been approved and funded. The project is designed to alleviate flooding and extends from George Field in Greenacres to Harcourt Woods south of Scarsdale High School, ultimately flowing into the Bronx River. At George Field, a seven-acre detention pond will be built to hold 2.3 million gallons of water at a depth of 1-3 inches. Bids are currently being evaluated and the work is scheduled to begin in April.

And the rain garden at Cooper Green won’t be just any rain garden--it will be one of the largest rain gardens in the Hudson Valley with 2,900 square feet of gardens traversed by a pervious walkway. This portion of the watercourse will include 2.5 acres of water storage to hold 815,000 gallons of water when needed.

The planting plan for the rain garden shown here includes native plants that will flower and thrive in both dry and wet

Mallow

The trees on the plan include Heritage Birch, Red Maple, Dogwood, Scarlet Oak, Sweetgum, American Elm and three yellow flowering Magnolias.

Take a look at the plan for Cooper Green as well as some of the plants you’ll find there soon. This is a very ambitious project that should have a big impact on the Village, managing water flows and beautifying public space.

Coneflower

Magnolia