Location: Rain Gardens Tuesday, May 13th 2008
		RAIN GARDENS - "Gardening with Water Quality in Mind"    What is a Rain Garden?    A Rain Garden is simply a shallow depression in your yard that is planted with native wildflowers, grasses, or shrubs. Rainwater is routed to the garden and filtered naturally by the plants and soils in the garden. This filtration process removes nutrients and pollutants. By acting as a mico-detention pond, the rain gardens plants and soils provide an easy, natural way of reducing the amount of water that flows from rooftops, lawns, and driveways. Then, using the concept of bioretention, these gardens remove pollutants from storm water and help restore natural infiltration. Why?    Rain is natural - stormwater isn't. Government studies have shown that up to 70% of the pollution in our streams, rivers and lakes is carried there by stormwater. Although most people never think about stormwater, about half of the pollution that stormwater carries comes from things we do in our yards and gardens!   Planting a rain garden may seem like a small thing, but if you calculate the amount of rain that runs off your roof, you would be very surprised. That rain is supposed to soak into the ground, but instead heads down the street to the storm drain, carrying pollution with it.   Keeping rain where it falls, by putting it into a beautiful rain garden, is a natural solution. You not only get a lovely garden out of it, you have the added benefit of helping protect our rivers, streams and lakes from stormwater pollution. You can be part of a beautiful solution!    Pictures of Blue Earth County Rain Gardens   Other Benefits - Rain Gardens are an effective tool to decrease runoff, recharge groundwater, reduce flooding, and improve water quality can be used in small sites or as the main technique in a larger system allowing some communities to forego expensive curb and gutter helps relieve the pressure on our municipal storm sewer systems adds an aesthetically pleasing addition to any yard or park requires little mowing, weeding or chemical application once established has rooted plants that stabilize soil to prevent erosion during large storm events creates wildlife habitat and attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife helps to educate the public about the problems that stormwater runoff creates
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