Creating a Resilient Yard  
2018 Blue Thumb workshops hosted by Metro Blooms

In collaboration with the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watersheds, Metro Blooms has developed a program of workshops that is offered to citizens at minimal cost.
Unseasonably warm weather, long periods of drought, and flooding rains are the new normal in Minnesota.  Metro Blooms is offering two types of resilient yard presentations this year: Resilient Yard Workshops and Turf Alternatives workshops.  

• Resilient Yard Workshops (2.5 hours): Provide a framework to understand the importance of resilience and how it can be fostered in your yard through a variety of practices, including how to install your own raingarden. Following presentation, attendees receive one-on-one design assistance from Blue Thumb Landscape Designers, Hennepin County Master Gardeners, and Master Water Stewards to create a plan for your own yard.
• Turf Alternative Workshops (1.5 hours): Your guide to a low-maintenance lawn.  This 1-hour presentation overviews the benefits and options before providing step-by-step instructions to establishing water- and pollinator-friendly perennial ground covers. Suggested turf alternatives minimize the need for irrigation and chemical inputs while maintaining a useable lawn. The presentation is followed by a group discussion to identify and overcome common obstacles faced by homeowners.

All workshop attendees receive information about installation cost share programs and Blue Thumb resources to help get a project in the ground. 

Register now. Some locations fill up fast. The $15 workshops are offered March - June:  

Date	Day	Time	Workshop Location	Workshop Type
March 28	Wednesday	12:30-2:30PM	Prescott, WI; exactly location TBD (Free)	Turf Alternatives
March 29	Thursday	6-8:30 PM	St. Louis Park City Hall (Free to residents)	Resilient Yards
April 4	Wednesday	6:30-9 PM	Champlin City Hall	Resilient Yards
April 4	Wednesday	6:30-8 PM	Armatage Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Turf Alternatives
April 10	Tuesday	6-8:30 PM	Longfellow Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Resilient Yards
April 12	Thursday	6:30-8 PM	St. Louis Park City Hall (Free to residents)	Turf Alternatives
April 17	Tuesday	6-8:30 PM	St. Barnabas Church, Plymouth (Free to residents)	Resilient Yards
April 17	Tuesday	6:30-8 PM	Edina Public Works Building	Turf Alternatives
April 19	Thursday	6-8:30 PM	Nokomis Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Resilient Yards
April 24	Tuesday	6-8:30 PM	Edina Public Works Building	Resilient Yards
April 24	Tuesday	6:30-8 PM	Longfellow Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Turf Alternatives
April 28	Saturday	11-1:30 PM	North Regional Library, Minneapolis (Free)	Resilient Yards
May 3	Thursday	6:30-8 PM	Nokomis Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Turf Alternatives
May 10	Thursday	6-8:30 PM	Crystal Community Center	Resilient Yards
May 15	Tuesday	6-8:30 PM	Brooklyn Center Community Center	Resilient Yards
May 19	Saturday	11-12:30PM	North Regional Library, Minneapolis (Free)	Turf Alternatives
May 23	Wednesday	6-8:30 PM	Armatage Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Resilient Yards
May 31	Thursday	6-8:30 PM	Audubon Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Resilient Yards
June 7	Thursday	6:30-8 PM	Audubon Recreation Center, Minneapolis	Turf Alternatives

Want to know more?
Whether you are an experienced gardener or have never tried gardening before, this eco-friendly workshop will help you learn how to:

• Keep our water clean with native plants, raingardens, and shoreline plantings
• Create pollinator habitat by using beautiful native plants in your landscape
• Redirect your downspouts and install a rain barrel
• Design your landscape with one-on-one assistance from landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners
• Adopt healthy yard care practices to improve our land and water habitat

Fast Facts about runoff and native plants:

• Every time it rains one inch, an average urban residential property sheds about 5,400 gallons of stormwater runoff. 
• The EPA defines stormwater runoff as the number one threat to water quality in our lakes and streams.
• According to conservation expert Doug Tallamy, 95% of our native plants nationwide have been removed. This is problematic because native plants are the base of the food web. Native plants support the insects that support the birds that support larger animals, and so on. From a human perspective, native plants support the pollinators that pollinate approximately 1/3 of the food we eat!

What is a Rain Garden?
A rain garden is slightly concave and planted where it will collect stormwater as it runs off of parking lots, rooftops and roads. Rain gardens soak water into the ground so that it doesn't run off and pollute local lakes and rivers. They help to recharge groundwater supplies and reduce parking lot flooding and erosion. Because they absorb water within 1-2 days, rain gardens don't breed mosquitoes and they're usually not wet.

To register visit metroblooms.org/workshops or call 651-699-2426 Cost: $15 per household unless otherwise noted. Register soon, some locations fill up fast.


Information

Sign Up for a Workshop

Rain Garden Fact Sheet

Rain Garden Maintenance Fact Sheet (Clean Water Minnesota)