Rain Bird, a US manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services, has announced that Naples Botanical Garden is the winner of the 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Leadership Award.
The garden, located in Naples, Florida, received $10,000 from Rain Bird.
"Naples Botanical Garden is a prime example of what community organizations, especially our public gardens, can do to combat the mismanagement of water and encourage the creative processes and systems for conserving water," says Dave Johnson, Rain Bird’s director of corporate marketing.
In an area with a problematic history of pollution and fertiliser runoff in communal waterways, Naples Botanical Garden has adopted the water use goals for LEED Gold Certification.
Parking lot bio-swales capture rainwater that filters through the ground, carrying water to the giant entry feature bio-swale, the Rain Garden. A 'River of Grass' garden feature serves as a natural filtration system before the water is slowly released to the preserve area.
The primary irrigation system for the garden implements soil moisture detectors that direct water as needed through drip emitters. The system has allowed the garden to reduce water use by 50 per cent.
Naples Botanical Garden was one of five finalists for the 2009 award that included Quail Botanical Gardens (Encinitas, CA), Hui o Ko'olaupoko (Kailua, HI), Queens Botanical Garden (Queens, NY) and the Council on the Environment of New York City (New York, NY).
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