Free workshop offers rain garden advice

Talk about it

Learn more about how to design, install and maintain rain gardens at a free workshop for homeowners. It will take place Thursday, March 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Douglas County Public Works Building.

Presenters include Emily Siira, Douglas Soil Water Conservation District and Sally Finzel with Morning Sky Greenery. Several homeowners will also be on hand to share their rain garden experiences.

This workshop is made possible by the Douglas SWCD, Douglas County Master Gardeners, Chippewa River Watershed Project, and the Sauk River Watershed District.

Call the Douglas SWCD at (320) 763-3191, extension 3 by Tuesday, March 16 to register.

A rain garden is a landscaped area planted to wildflowers and other native vegetation that soak up rain water, mainly from the roof of a house or other building.

The rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a storm and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running off to a storm drain.

Compared to a conventional patch of lawn, a rain garden allows about 30 percent more water to soak into the ground.

Rain gardens help in several ways by:

•Increasing the amount of water that filters into the ground, which recharges local and regional aquifers.

•Helping protect communities from flooding and drainage problems.

•Helping protect streams and lakes from pollutants carried by urban stormwater –lawn fertilizers and pesticides, oil and other fluids that leak from cars, and numerous harmful substances that wash off roofs and paved areas.

•Enhancing the beauty of yards and neighborhoods.

•Providing valuable habitat for birds, butterflies and many beneficial insects.

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