What is a bioretention pond?
Bioretention ponds utilize soil, plants, and microbes to temporarily store and treat stormwater before it is discharged. Stormwater runoff naturally flows into the bioretention area, percolates through the soil and eventually drains into the groundwater or gets absorbed by plants. Efficiently designed bioretention ponds will remove suspended solids, metals, and nutrients. Distributed around properties and roadways, bioretention areas mitigate stormwater and protect the surrounding ecosystems.
Where does Bloom fit in?
Most bioretention soil media consists of sand, compost, and topsoil. Bloom can be used as an alternative to compost with a higher organic matter content. High organic matter content allows the soil to store and supply nutrients yielding greener, healthier plants, increases soil stability and reduces soil erosion. The planting medium is generally required to contain at least 10% organic matter, a requirement more easily attained when incorporating Bloom in lieu of traditional leaf compost.
What are the benefits to using Bloom in bioretention soils?
- Poor drainage is a common concern when installing and maintaining bioretention ponds. Using too much compost to meet the organic matter specification can lead to clogging. Bloom’s Woody Blend has a higher percentage of organic matter than leaf compost, enabling a contractor to use less material to meet the spec while allowing proper drainage of the system.
- Bloom’s use is not only limited to bioretention ponds. Woody Blend can be incorporated into the biosoils of smaller systems such as rain gardens or bioswales.
- Bloom has been tested and proven to yield consistent results in biosoils while saving contractors on material costs.
Bloom provides a plethora of benefits for the plantings installed in the bioretention pond such as:
- Bloom is a source of slow release nitrogen, iron for darker green leaves, and other micronutrients necessary for optimal plant growth
- Increases water holding capacity of soil
- Weed seed free and debris free
- A sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost effective alternative to chemical fertilizers
