The backyard at the home of Steve Nola in the Town of Tonawanda, which features a shallow hand-dug basin that temporarily collects rainwater during a storm or water from a hose when the fountain is turned on.
A sitting area in the backyard.
Steve Nola has been interested in drainage since he was a child. “When I was 8 or 9 years old, I would float Popsicle sticks down the curb when it was raining, admiring the flow and direction,” he said.
Today, the lifelong gardener has a 275-gallon IBC (intermediate bulk container) water tote outside his Town of Tonawanda home. The tote uses the gutter system on the rear roof to collect and store – or “harvest” – rainwater and roof runoff that Nola then uses to fill 2-gallon containers to water vegetables and plants in pots.
There’s also a hand-dug collection basin (shallow pond) in the backyard that soaks up rainwater and runoff from the surrounding properties of the uphill neighbors. After a heavy rainfall when the shallow pond becomes temporarily full, the water flows over and moves along channels that border the curved flower beds in the back, front and side gardens, seeping into the soil.
“I took advantage of the natural slope on my property from back to front,” said Nola, who works as a home inspector.
According to the Western New York Stormwater Coalition, a growth in urbanization has caused an increase in impervious surfaces, resulting in an increase in stormwater runoff. Stormwater collects in storm sewer systems and empties into local waterways, bringing along with it pollutants it picked up along the way that can harm water quality and aquatic life, the coalition notes.
A rain garden, which the coalition defines as a shallow depression planted with native plants and flowers, “is designed to collect and absorb rain and snowmelt from roofs, sidewalks, driveway and lawns, allowing it to seep naturally into the ground.”
It can decrease stormwater pollution, encourage rainwater to infiltrate into the ground and provide other benefits as explained in the coalition’s booklet, “Rain Gardens: A How-To Guide,” at erie.gov/stormwater.
Nola’s version of a rain garden has a fountain attached to a hose in the shallow basin/pond, which is about 11 inches deep at the center, that he turns on from time to time.
“When I installed the rain garden and hand-dug it, it was designed to be natural. The rain falls and it fills up,” said Nola, noting that the shallow basin and channels would normally remain drained during dry weather until a heavy rainfall.
“But to better illustrate what happens and to enjoy it more often I put in the underground hose and attached fountain head to fill it up,” he said.
When he turns the fountain on, “it’s like a dinner bell” for robins, sparrows, cardinals and other birds, since insects emerge from the ground.
The stream of water that flows through channels when the shallow basin at the back of the property temporarily collects enough water from rain or a fountain. The water seeps into the soil.
Nola, a kayaker, has been on the Ken-Ton Garden Tour for 13 years. He has created representations of the area’s waterways, from the front of his property to the back. Lake Ontario, Lower Niagara River, the Falls, Grand Island between the East and West Rivers, Upper Niagara River, Lake Erie, Lake Erie beaches, Buffalo River, Lake Erie Watershed and Ellicott Creek are all represented here.
“It’s an interconnected series of depressions and channels,” he said.
Another water source: The water that gets pumped out when he backwashes the filter of his above-ground pool runs through an underground pipe to the rear of the property where the slope will take it to the pond and beyond.
• The Victory garden. Nola has a large compost-rich, no-till garden planted in neat rows with tomatoes and peppers. “I’m a pepper guy,” said Nola, who enjoys making salsas, sauces, pepper salads and tomato sandwiches. He plants tabasco peppers, tomatillos, jalapenos, oxheart tomatoes, pepper tomatoes, eggplant and mini peppers, which he grows from seeds. Favorite herbs include chives, oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary.
The backyard Victory garden, with lots of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Instead of using small conical tomato cages, Nola stakes his tomato plants with cages he made using cattle fence panels. The panels are crafted from rigid welded wire; each measures 50 inches wide by 16 feet long.
Nola’s parents enjoy stopping by for meals from the garden. His mother, Jeanette, said that her son began gardening when he was a boy.
“He was about 8 years old,” she said. “He would like to play outside in the soil, and he said, ‘I think I’m going to put a garden in the back of the garage.’ I said ‘Go ahead, Steven.’ Anything to get him out of my hair. He was a very mischievous child,” she said.
Before long, she became interested in gardening as well.
“He’s the one that got me started on it, believe it or not,” she said.
“So he started digging, and I would buy a few tomatoes and I kind of liked the idea. So that was our job. Every spring he would dig up the back, and we would plant tomatoes and maybe a few peppers here and there. We didn’t have much space, but it was really good. Then I started planting them from seed,” she said.
• Outdoor living room. Nola’s “summer house” is his garage. It features a kitchen, pool table, sofa, recliner, dining table and chairs, TV, string lights and peel-and-stick vinyl flooring that imitates wood.
• Plants and flowers: Nola has planted hostas, creeping Jenny, butterfly bush, phlox, hydrangea, “dinner plate” hibiscus, Russian sage, coneflowers, gold thread Cypress and more. Plantings in the back garden include a mugo pine, native grasses, privet, ferns and a dappled willow tree. There’s also a compost pile in the back corner and another area he calls Forest Lawn, where he displays stones that resemble tombstones.
Among the standout trees: a Clump River Birch, which has exfoliating reddish, brown and white bark.
• Garden art: Three Cosanti windbells, made by artisans in Arizona, hang outdoors. Crane sculptures are found near the fountain and in the back garden. Stones painted by his children – now ages 19, 24 and 26 – surround a 5-year-old apple tree.
Other decorative items include a large mirror along the back fence; push lawn mowers and other old garden implements; a dolly from the old Larkin building; construction debris from the demolished Shoreline Apartments on Niagara Street, and other items found at garage and estate sales or at curbside.
A final tip from Nola: He recommends using curves and contours (dips, uphill slopes, etc.) when designing garden beds, because they suggest movement unlike straight lines. In his own garden, he prefers planting in threes – such as three Russian sages – or bunches of odd numbers.
Or use three different types of plants but stick to one color, he said. He planted phlox, catmint and butterfly bush – all purple – near the pond, for example.
A sitting area in the backyard.
The backyard Victory garden, with lots of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
The backyard at the home of Steve Nola in the Town of Tonawanda, which features a shallow hand-dug basin that temporarily collects rainwater during a storm or water from a hose when the fountain is turned on.
The stream of water that flows through channels when the shallow basin at the back of the property temporarily collects enough water from rain or a fountain. The water seeps into the soil.
Nola's garden was on the Ken-Ton Garden Tour again this year. He names sections of his gardens after local waterways, which visitors learn about as they walk the lot from front to back.
Steve Nola in his backyard garden.
The garage is set up for summer living.
Crane statues in the shallow pond.
A mirror against the back fence.
A Cosanti windbell, made by artisans in Arizona.
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I write about decorating, gardening, fashion, DIY projects and entertaining for the Home & Style section. We feature many residences throughout Western New York. Interviewing people about their homes and gardens is a favorite part of my beat.
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The backyard at the home of Steve Nola in the Town of Tonawanda, which features a shallow hand-dug basin that temporarily collects rainwater during a storm or water from a hose when the fountain is turned on.
The backyard Victory garden, with lots of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
The stream of water that flows through channels when the shallow basin at the back of the property temporarily collects enough water from rain or a fountain. The water seeps into the soil.
A sitting area in the backyard.
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