The Preservation Society of Newport County · Preserve Rhode Island
2025-06-27T15:00:00.000Z
A ribbon cutting in Newport for the Scenic Aquidneck bio-absorption garden we built
On Friday, June 27, 2025, the Preservation Society of Newport County cut the ribbon on a new bio-absorption garden in the southwest corner of the Marble House visitor parking lot. The garden is a project of Scenic Aquidneck — the Preservation Society, Aquidneck Island Land Trust, Preserve Rhode Island and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation — and was constructed by O'Connor Design Build.
Preservation Society CEO Trudy Coxe called it the latest in a series of Scenic Aquidneck projects, after hundreds of feet of rebuilt stone wall, buried power lines along Second Beach in Middletown, a survey of the historic barns across Aquidneck Island and a push for historic tax credits at the state level. The partnership, she said, had taught them that “partnerships matter, progress takes time,” and that preservation and environmental protection go hand in hand.
The 2,800-square-foot garden captures and filters stormwater from the lot, reducing pollution and easing flooding. It holds 25,000 gallons at rest and up to 38,000 gallons during a heavy rain while it drains. Terry Sullivan, Executive Director of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, described it as a demonstration site — a place to bring groups and show what a rain garden can be, so that people might build something similar at home.
Jim Donahue, the Society's Curator of Historic Landscapes and Horticulture, chose herbaceous plants that naturally grow together in colonies and need little care, let the flowering plants go to seed for the birds, and added berry-bearing shrubs such as blueberry and viburnum for wildlife. A walking path and granite benches finish the space: a naturalistic, wildlife-friendly garden that also does practical work in the landscape.
Before a stone was set, the garden was worked out in a three-dimensional model: the channel, the path, the benches and the planting, sitting together in the corner of the lot.
In June 2026 the garden earned the Preservation Society's Laurel Award for Horticulture.
Read more: Rain Garden Makes a Splash in Newport (Preserve Rhode Island, July 25, 2025) and newportmansions.org.
