Bioswale. noun. A long, channeled depression or trench that receives rainwater runoff (as from a parking lot) and has vegetation (such as grasses, flowering herbs, and shrubs) and organic matter (such as mulch) to slow water infiltration and filter out pollutants.
This Bioswale was created at the bottom of a large, naturalistic hillside planting in New Preston. The erosion mat was used as a substitute for mulch in this bioswale, controlling the ground plane while the native groundcover fills into a green carpet. This bioswale was planted with transplanted Carex pensylvanica and Lobelia siphilitica.
