Planted Storm Water Buffer

Landscape buffers are areas of development sites that are set aside for planting and screening but may also be used for wildlife habitat or general garden aesthetics.   Most landscape buffers, their use, size, extent and character are defined in community zoning regulations. Particularly, in community landscape codes that require buffering and screening between adjacent conflicting land uses. However, well-planted buffers provide other services.  Storm water management zones such as planted buffers trap sediments, solid water, TSS, non-point pollutants from urban areas. These are all common functions of planted landscape buffers 

Planted buffers, be they formal, informal or naturalized can be designed to soak up rainwater falling on development sites. Planted buffers can have improved internal drainage and can be linked together for maximum storm water collection during rainfall events.   Buffers can be built for storm water management along roadways, at property edges, parallel to walkways, driveways, buildings  and almost any place on a development site in which open space can be found that can be planted. These features share a similar storm water technology as micro-detentions (rain gardens) but are often linear and in urban areas often designed as straight lines.