Raingardens and Beyond: Healthy Yards, Clean Water

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.

The workshops will explore the latest in healthy yard care practices, including proper use of fertilizers, disposal and reuse of yard waste, keeping sidewalks ice free and managing runoff onsite. The workshops will move participants quickly from an overview of healthy yard care practices to a completed raingarden design for their property with assistance from Metro Blooms Landscape Designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners. 

Available Dates:
Thursday, March 31 at 6 pm - Longfellow Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
Wednesday, April 13 at 6 pm - Edina Public Works Building
Tuesday, April 19 at 6 pm - St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Plymouth
Saturday, April 23 at 1 pm - Lake Hiawatha Recreation Center, Minneapolis
Thursday, April 28 at 6 pm - Audubon Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
Thursday May 5 at 6 pm - Brooklyn Center Community Center
Thursday, May 12 at 6 pm - Champlin City Hall
Wednesday, May 18 at 6 pm - Pearl Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
Saturday, May 21 at 1 pm - North Regional Library,, Minneapolis
Wednesday, May 25 at 6 pm - St. Louis Park Recreation Center

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.


Information

Sign Up for a Workshop

Rain Garden Fact Sheet

Rain Garden Maintenance Fact Sheet (Clean Water Minnesota)