The landscaping at the one-acre site was a joint effort of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) and was funded in part through a state Department of Environmental Protection Riverways Grant. The new site provides wildlife habitat, conserves water, and reduces pollutants all at once.

At the group home dedication, Peter Phippen, director of Eight Towns and the Bay/Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, thanked the professionals and volunteers who made the project a reality and described the work that went into it.

All plants surrounding the home are native to Essex County, which ensures their ability to withstand the climate changes, insects and other pests, and soil conditions in the area. "They won't need fertilizers and chemicals to stay healthy," Phippen said.

In turn, these plantings will provide wildlife habitat and food sources for the birds year-round. A hummingbird garden with feeders is located close to the house.

Members of the Ipswich Garden Club and IRWA volunteers planted the mountain laurel, Christmas fern, rhododendron, and other plants indigenous to the area. AgriSource contributed a compost mixture to enrich the topsoil that replaces the rocky, clay-like ground at the long-neglected site.

The newly seeded lawn has a combination of grasses that don't need chemicals. Phippen said that Corliss will sell the special seed mixture to the public as well.

SmartStorm, a roof runoff collection and infiltration system that makes maximum use of rain water, will keep the plants and surrounding grass healthy.

After the dedication, John Carney of the Charles River Watershed Association explained the SmartStorm project as "a first world reworking of third world technology."

The water receptacle, a green plastic tub at the foot of a storm drain, goes six feet into the ground and can hold 400 gallons of rain water. Basically, it's an expanded version of a rain barrel. This receptacle, connected to a small pump, will provide water to the lawn and plantings surrounding the home, Carney said.

Pam Kumpersan of the Wenham Lake Watershed Association came to the dedication to find out more, to encourage an environmentally healthy landscape at a new senior housing facility in Beverly.