Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Floating Garden Bubbles Up in Fetid Gowanus Canal

By Leslie Albrecht | September 29, 2015 5:00pm
 A floating garden of wildflowers is supposed to help clean the polluted Gowanus Canal.
Floating Garden Bubbles Up on Fetid Gowanus Canal
View Full Caption

The rainbow-hued oil slicks on the Gowanus Canal have some competition.

The landscape design studio Balmori Associates recently installed a colorful floating garden on the polluted waterway.

Called GrowOnUs, the waterborne garden is made of the same type of corrugated metal pipes that deliver sewage into the canal. In this case the pipes hold prettier stuff such as goldenrod, wild indigo and black-eyed susans.

The plants aren't just there to beautify the canal. They could also help clean its filthy water through a process called phytoremediation, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used to remove contaminants from toxic sites.

The floating garden was funded by a $20,000 grant from the Cornelia and Michael Bessie Foundation. Diana Balmori, founding principal at Balmori Associates, and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy were given the grant so they could "research and create a floating productive garden in the Gowanus Canal," according to Balmori.

"We have pioneered floating landscapes, we now want to learn what can make these floating structures financially sustainable," said Balmori.

"Dr. Michael Balick at the New York Botanical Garden suggested we grow herbs, low maintenance crops that can give a financial return given their price per volume. In a few years NYC restaurants may be serving meals and drinks infused with herbs grown on one of these islands."