Landscaping specialist Marshalls has launched the industry’s first off-the-shelf rain garden kerb system, creating an easy way to develop sustainable, biodiverse rain gardens to mitigate increasing flood risks.
EDENKERB combines a purpose-made left-hand inlet and right-hand inlet with an integrated kerb gradient to promote water entry to the rain garden, and a complementary diffuser flag to slow incoming water flow.
Produced in a modular design, it reduces the margin for error and time constraints usually associated with manually cutting and installing rain kerb features on-site, and is compliant with sustainability, SuDS and flood mitigation legislation.
Currently available in a standard grey finish, EDENKERB is available in two sizes and two profiles, offering the design flexibility to suit a range of schemes, whilst also meeting highway engineers’ requirements. EDENKERB is also designed to work seamlessly alongside Marshalls’ existing kerbs, enabling the development of rain gardens with any configuration and perimeter, creating further efficiencies for users.
As proof of its capabilities, EDENKERB has been tested in a live scheme as part of a sustainable flood resilience plan in Mansfield, the largest project of its kind ever attempted in the UK. As part of the scheme, Mansfield District Council and Nottingham County Council have invested £76million on a range of nature-based solutions to protect communities from flooding.
By the time the project completes in 2025, EDENKERB, as well as several other innovative solutions, will have played a role in storing over 58 million litres of surface water run-off, reducing the flood risk for 90,000 people in the area.
Gemma Monaghan, Civils and Drainage Category Manager for Marshalls, said: “We’re in the midst of a biodiversity crisis leading to the loss of ecosystems and ongoing environmental changes. Add to this rapid urbanisation, population increase and the impact of climate change, and our towns and cities are now at increased, ongoing risk of flooding and watercourse pollution. Rain gardens provide a flood management system that doubles up as an attractive, biodiverse feature, but until now, their integration with kerbs has proved challenging.
“EDENKERB is the industry’s first complete commercial rain garden kerb system, providing an effective and attractive SuDS solution, manufactured to the high-quality standards you would expect from Marshalls. It is a true ‘one of a kind’ system – there’s nothing else like it in the marketplace.
“The beauty of EDENKERB for merchants is that it makes it easier than ever to help customers integrate rain gardens into their schemes. In a time when swift action is required to make longstanding and widespread change, merchants can introduce their customers to EDENKERB as a solution which caters to multiple mandatory requirements, and is in a variety of finishes to suit multiple project needs.
“Having already proved its capabilities as part of the Mansfield trial, and now in situ at several other developments around the country, we believe EDENKERB will be truly transformative to the industry, and the future of our communities.”
