Saddler’s Woods is a 25.8 acre fragment of old growth forest in Haddon Township, New Jersey. Providing a local example of what the landscape looked like when European settlers arrived, it is home to over a thousand visitors each year for volunteering opportunities, recreation, and tours. With its land protected, the Woods are still subject to flooding and erosion as a result of storm-water runoff from adjacent buildings and parking lots. This runoff directly impacts Saddler’s Run, the stream that flows through Saddler’s Woods.

Jonathan Alderson Landscape Architects designed a rain garden and meadow at the adjacent Van Sciver Elementary School. Located on the periphery of Saddler’s Woods, the runoff from the Van Sciver School’s parking lots caused significant damage to Saddler’s Run. Down cutting of 10-20 feet in some areas of the stream has lowered the groundwater table in the woods. This has adversely affected the old growth trees that are accustomed to a higher groundwater table. To mitigate this damage, the team chose native and adaptive plant species to increase on-site infiltration while adding an educational element for the Elementary School and visitors to Saddler’s Woods. To foster a bio-diverse environment, several species of trees, hundreds of native shrubs, thousands of grass plugs, and hundreds of perennials were planted to mimic the way natural systems manage storm-water. The rain garden holds 6” of rainwater that slowly infiltrates over two days.