Rain Garden Volunteer Opportunity this Saturday!

Rain Garden Volunteer Training/Opportunity this Saturday, September 26th 10am-2pm!
Rain Gardens help to reduce storm water runoff and improve water quality. We will be discussing rain gardens, their role in stormwater management, how to locate a site and construct a rain garden, plant selection, care, and maintenance of a rain garden, and how to renovate an existing rain garden. The workshop format provides both classroom and hands-on instruction including working examples and a hands-on exercise in renovating an existing rain garden.

This Saturday we are offering an opportunity to our volunteers to learn about the basics of rain garden, and then get some hands-on experience working in a local rain garden.

When: September 26th, 10am – 2pm
Where: Bluegrass Greensource office and Morton Middle School
Schedule: Training 10am – 11:45
Lunch 11:45 – 12:30
Rain Garden Maintenance 12:45 – 2pm

Space is limited! Please register by emailing ashley@bggreensource.org by Friday September 25th!

*If you are interested in installing a Rain Garden, this workshop makes you eligible for a $250 grant to install one at your home!*

This training is open to new volunteers!
Please pass on this opportunity to your friends and family.

This work was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act.
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Rain Garden Natives: Kara’s Picks

Picture courtesy of Michler’s Garden Center
Picture courtesy of Michler’s Garden Center

Folks around Central Kentucky often ask me which plants are appropriate for a rain garden. Rain garden soil conditions can vary from wet to dry, making them tough places for many plants to grow. The plants chosen for rain gardens are adapted to these conditions and typically have extensive roots that help pull water into the ground, which can help reduce stormwater runoff.

To help you get started on your rain garden, I’ve picked out a few of my favorite Kentucky natives that really thrive in moist or well-drained soils.






Eupatorium maculatum – Joe Pye Weed

15638101339_214e2973a3_o A Butterfly Magnet, the extravagant Joe Pye Weed is crowned with clusters of bright pink flowers in late summer. Eupatorium maculatum is perfect for planting in damp soil in marshy areas, along streambanks, and on pond edges. Joe Pye Weed (also called Spotted Joe Pye Weed) also thrives in rich garden soil. If you love Joe Pye but have too much shade, try Sweet Joe Pye Weed.

 

Monarda didyma – Bee Balm

22222 A pollinator favorite, Beebalm’s red bloom makes it especially attractive to hummingbirds. One of only a few red-flowered natives, it holds a special place in the mid-summer color scheme. Native to the Appalachian Mountains, Monarda didyma will grow well in zones 4 – 7. Does best in a rich soil with a good organic matter content to provide moisture during the heat of summer. Also known as Oswego Tea, American Beebalm or Scarlet Beebalm.

 

Chelome obliqua – Turtle Head

1111 Turtleheads are native wildflowers that adapt beautifully to garden conditions. In this species, plants form an upright, bushy mound of green foliage, bearing upright stems of large bright-pink hooded flowers beginning in late summer. Best in a moist or wet site, this also adapts well to average border conditions. Terrific at the waterside. Excellent for cutting. Showy and long lived. Attractive to butterflies. Plants are easily divided in spring.

If you would like to learn more about rain garden and apply for a $250 grant to build a rain garden at your own home check out our web page or register for a workshop!

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

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Rain Garden Opportunities in Fayette County

10733974_10152829581399309_5885192946187560566_nBluegrass Greensource will be offering Rain Garden Workshops this fall to neighborhood associations and homeowner groups in Fayette County.  Attendees of the workshop will be eligible for a $250 grant to construct a rain garden at their own home.

A rain garden is a garden with a shallow depression that captures runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, patios, driveways, and parking lots, before it enters the storm water system. The soil and plant roots improve water quality by filtering pollutants and reducing the amount of stormwater runoff.  The water easily infiltrates into the soil because of the deep roots of the native plants and recharges the groundwater supply.

The workshops are designed to educate homeowners about the benefits of installing a rain garden, improving water quality, and the best management practices for stormwater. Participants will learn how to determine the right location for their rain garden, how to build and maintain a rain garden, and what types of native plants are most successful and environmentally beneficial.

Grant are on a first come, first serve basis, and groups must schedule and host a workshop with Bluegrass Greensource before September 25, 2015. To schedule a workshop for your group and learn more about the grant, please contact Kara Sayles at Kara@bgGreensource.org or at (859)266-1572.

Interested in viewing established rain gardens in Central Kentucky? View our interactive map!

This work was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act.

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Tour showcases the beauty, benefits of Central Kentucky rain gardens

Screen shot 2015-06-30 at 2.11.36 PM
A rain garden is a shallow depression that captures runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, patios, driveways and parking lots, before it enters the storm water system. A rain garden uses natural processes to improve water quality by filtering pollutants and reducing the amount of storm water runoff. The water easily infiltrates into the soil because of the deep roots of the native plants and recharges the groundwater supply.

Rain gardens:

  • Significantly filter and reduce runoff before it enters local waterways and groundwater
  • Decrease drainage problems and localized flooding
  • Conserve water and reduce pollution
  • Attract pollinators such as birds, bees, and butterflies, and provide habitat for other wildlife
  • Recharge the groundwater supply
  • Enhance the beauty of yards and communities

Over the past two years, Bluegrass Greensource has held a series of workshops to provide Central Kentucky homeowners with the grants and guidance needed to install rain garden at their homes. These workshops educate homeowners about what they can do to help prevent stormwater issues at home and in their communities.

Bluegrass Greensource invites you to attend the ninth annual Rain Garden Tour series this July. The tours are a culmination of recent efforts to promote the use of rain gardens in Central Kentucky, and will showcase how rain gardens can be an attractive addition to your yard and help improve water quality.

The tours will be held on:

  • July 10 in Midway from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., starting at Midway Christian Church
  • July 11 in Berea from 1-4 p.m., starting at Union Church
  • July 12 in Georgetown from 1-4 p.m., starting at Scott County Public Library

Tour participants will view a variety of beautiful, established rain gardens varying in size, and design. They will also learn how to design and construct a rain garden of their own. Residents of Scott, Woodford, Bourbon, Clark, Jessamine and Madison counties will be eligible for a $250 reimbursement grant upon completion of a tour.

For additional details about rain gardens or the tour, visit our rain gardens page.

Kara-Sayles

Kara Sayles is an environmental educator at Bluegrass Greensource, focusing on middle and high school grade levels. In addition, she serves the Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance as rain garden project coordinator. Kara holds a bachelor’s degreefrom The Evergreen State College. She also received an associate’s degree from Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

This article appeared in KY Forward on July 1, 2015.

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Rain Garden Opportunities

What if all our neighborhoods incorporated stormwater that drains from the roof into the natural landscaping around our homes? Plants would be watered naturally, the groundwater recharged, and excessive curbing and stormwater systems could be eliminated. Instead of this modern, concrete-filled, suburban environment we could have flourishing ecosystems in our own yards, as well as better water quality in our creeks and streams. Utilizing rain gardens can help with many of our storm water issues.

A rain garden is a garden with a shallow depression that captures runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, patios, driveways, and parking lots, before it enters the storm water system. Rain gardens can be customized and are limited only by the resources and time you want to put into them. They use natural processes to improve water quality by filtering pollutants and reducing the amount of storm water runoff. The water easily infiltrates into the soil because of the deep roots of the native plants and recharges the groundwater supply.

In 2013, Bluegrass Greensource received a grant through the Kentucky’s Division of Water to conduct an education program about rain gardens. With this grant Bluegrass Greensource will continue to work with community partners to maintain a rain garden program by leading workshops about rain garden benefits on water quality and quantity, encouraging their construction, and keeping a register of rain gardens built in Central Kentucky.

Bluegrass Greensource will be hosting a series of rain garden workshops sponsored by the Kentucky Division of Water. These workshops are free to the public and participants may be eligible to receive a $250 grant for native plants. This grant will offer residents of Jessamine, Scott, Madison, Clark, Bourbon and Woodford Counties educational opportunities as well as possible funds for plant materials. A Rain Garden Tour will also be offered in each county after the grant program has ended.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

February 24th – Bourbon County Middle School, 6-8 p.m.

April 23rd – Woodford County Extension Office,  more information coming soon

April 29th – Bourbon County Extension Office, 1-4 p.m.

May 6th – Madison County Extension Office, 1-5 p.m.

May 7th – Clark County; Rain Garden and Invasive Species Workshop, more information coming soon

If you would like to learn more about rain garden and possible grant opportunities, I would encourage you to visit our webpage at: www.bgGreensource.org/rain-gardens/.

 

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Rain Garden Events Offered in September

Bluegrass Greensource will be hosting several Rain Garden Workshops this fall in Clark, Madison, and Woodford Counties. Each workshop is FREE and open to the public.

Fall workshop dates include:

September 4, 2014     Madison County Extension Office

September 6, 2014     Midway Christian Church

September 20, 2014   The Generations Center (Winchester)

September 27, 2014   Sustainable Berea

raingarden

“Bluegrass Greensource is so excited to host these rain garden workshops in Central Kentucky,” said Kara Sayles, rain garden project coordinator. “We are also offering a limited number of $250 grants to eligible residents who want to build their own rain garden.” Only residents of Bourbon, Clark, Jessamine, Madison, Scott, and Woodford counties who attend a workshop are eligible to apply for these grants.

A rain garden is a garden planted in a shallow depression which is strategically located on a property where it captures stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, patios, and driveways, before it enters the stormwater system. The soil and plant roots use natural processes to improve water quality by filtering pollutants, the overall amount of stormwater runoff is reduced, and the groundwater supply is recharged.

The workshops are designed to educate homeowners about the benefits of installing a rain garden and improving water quality, and the best management practices for stormwater. Participants will learn how to determine the right location for a rain garden, how to build and maintain a rain garden, and what types of plants are most successful and environmentally beneficial. Additionally, the participants will have the opportunity to take part in planting native plants in a rain garden near the workshop.

“We are proud to educate Kentucky homeowners about the numerous benefits of rain gardens and to demonstrate a tool that virtually anyone can use to manage runoff on their property,” states Kara. Space is limited for workshops, so to register or learn more details, please visit Bluegrass Greensource’s website.

Additionally, we are offering a Rain Garden Tour in Fayette County on Sunday, September 14th from 2-5pm. Participants will tour several residential rain gardens in the Meadowthorpe neighborhood. The tour will begin at the Meadowthorpe Community Center at 333 Larch Lane, Lexington. Contact Kara Sayles for more information.

This work was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act. Bluegrass Greensource (formerly Bluegrass PRIDE) is an environmental non-profit organization that offers resources and educational information to foster positive environmental change in their communities. Founded in 2001, Greensource provides outreach to schools, community groups, businesses, local government, and citizens in Central Kentucky.

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Rain gardens have many benefits for your yard and the environment

What if all of our neighborhoods incorporated stormwater that drains from the roof into the natural landscaping around our homes? Plants would be watered naturally, the groundwater recharged, and excessive curbing and stormwater systems could be eliminated. Instead of this modern, lackluster, concrete-filled, suburban environment, we could have flourishing ecosystems in our own yards, as well as better water quality in our creeks and streams. Utilizing rain gardens can help with many of our stormwater issues.

 (Photo provided)

A rain garden is a shallow depression that captures and treats runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, patios, driveways and parking lots, before it enters the stormwater system. Rain gardens use natural processes to improve water quality by filtering pollution and reducing the amount of stormwater entering the storm sewer system. They are specially designated a BMP, or best management practice, which means rain gardens are among the most environmentally conscious ways of handling our stormwater.

As Bluegrass Greensource’s Rain Garden Alliance coordinator, it is great to see the number of rain gardens across Central Kentucky grow and be successful. The ultimate goal for me is helping others see rain gardens as the standard, and routing the water into a stormdrain as an alternative to be used only if needed.

The issue goes far beyond the environmental impact, however; designers also have to join in this quest. Early neighborhood designers had the right idea, incorporating gardens and community areas into the design. Somehow, in the American standard today, that gets left out. It’s mostly left up to the homeowner and community groups to reclaim land for those things.

For some, the concern about building a rain garden in the yard is the wild/weedy look that planting native perennials can give the landscaping around a house.  If the gardens are thoughtfully designed, however, the appearance can be determined by the homeowner and can be attractive.

Another benefit of building these gardens is the habitat and ecosystem they provide. Native plants attract native wildlife. Bees, butterflies and many other pollinator species are in decline, and it is in part because of lack of habitat. By planting native plants we can help provide more space for wildlife, bringing interesting visitors into our own yards.

If this type of garden is something you would like to learn more about, I encourage you to visit our webpage. We have several upcoming educational workshops this fall, as well as grants for homeowners in Jessamine, Clark, Bourbon, Woodford, Madison and Scott counties to build rain gardens at their homes.
Kara-Sayles

Kara Sayles is an environmental educator, focusing on middle and high School grade levels. In addition, she serves the Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance as rain garden project coordinator. Kara holds a bachelor’s degree with a focus on Ecological Design and Sustainable Agriculture from The Evergreen State College. She also received an associate’s degree in Environmental Technology at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

This post appeared in KY Forward on July 31, 2014.

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Greensource to Offer Rain Garden Workshop at Annual Whippoorwill Festival

Bluegrass Greensource will be hosting a series of Rain Garden Workshops in Woodford, Clark, and Madison Counties this summer and fall. Residents of Woodford, Clark, and Madison Counties that attend a workshop are eligible to apply to receive a grant of $250 to construct a rain garden at their homes.

RainGarden

The first event in the series will be hosted in Madison County at Homegrown Hideaways on July 11 and 12. This workshop will be one of many workshops offered that day, focused on a variety of sustainability topics, at the Whippoorwill Festival.

The first day of the workshop will promote best management practices for stormwater and is designed to educate homeowners about the benefits of installing a rain garden and improving water quality. Participants will learn how to determine the right location, how to build and maintain a rain garden, and what types of plants are most successful and environmentally beneficial. Additionally, the participants will have the opportunity to take part in planting native plants in a rain garden near the workshop.

The second day of the workshop will promote planting of milkweed and other native plant species that help support monarch butterflies lifecycle. The workshop will discuss why the Monarchs need our help and what benefit native plant species have to the butterflies and other pollinators. It will also cover how to construct a waystation and what plants to choose.

Both sections of the workshop will offer a hands-on component, while constructing a rain garden/ monarch waystation at Homegrown Hideaways.

Please check updates to Bluegrass Greensource’s website for more Rain Garden opportunities coming soon.

This work was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act.

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So, what’s your watershed? Find out, then work to keep pollutants out

Several years ago while attending a conference, I chose a session on rain gardens. As a horticulturist with a penchant for native and heirloom plants, I found the concept intriguing.

 
(Graphic from EPA.gov)(Graphic from EPA.gov)

To my surprise, the presenter started out by asking if we could identify our watershed. “My what?” This led into an unexpected but undeniably interesting talk about stormwater runoff, storm drains emptying directly into our streams, and “best management practices” for handling this runoff – finally, we were talking about rain gardens.

Little did I realize that a few years later I would be planning watershed festivals in three nearby counties and using the Watershed Enviroscape model as an educational tool in classrooms throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky. Now I am the one asking students “So what’s a watershed?” (and no, it is not a shack by the water).

Now I know that a watershed is the land area that drains (or sheds) rainwater runoff into a common water body (and that land use within that area affects the quality of the water). In Kentucky, with our Karst topography, this affects both surface and underground water.

Ironically, when using the Watershed Enviroscape, the kids’ favorite part of the demonstration is watching the water with red food coloring pour out of the factory and into the stream (indicating “point source” pollution). But as educators, we focus more on “non point source” or “runoff” pollutants that are carried in rainwater runoff, and what we, as conscientious citizens, can do to prevent that pollution.

The easiest of all these “best management” practices is don’t litter. Take personal responsibility, recycle and make sure that your bins have secure lids.

Next, use fertilizers and pesticides sparingly, opting for composting yard and kitchen waste and choosing other ways of deterring pests, like companion planting.

Install a rain garden to capture runoff in your yard and/or a rain barrel to catch rooftop runoff and conserve water.

Plant native flowers, grasses and trees, with deep roots, to prevent erosion and reduce topical watering. This is especially important near waterways, creating a “riparian” buffer to filter out pollutants.

Pick up after your pets, and if you farm, keep livestock out of the streams to prevent erosion and large amounts of waste from entering our watershed.

Maintain your septic system.

Maintain vehicles to prevent leakage of oil, gas and other fluids.

And remember, our storm drains lead directly into our streams, so don’t sweep contaminants into the street or down storm drains.

I participate in volunteer water sampling for Kentucky River Watershed Watch in my local watershed, the Mock’s Branch/Spears Creek sub-watershed of the Dix River. I find that identifying my watershed and participating in testing gives me a personal investment in the quality of the water that flows behind my home.

Want to find out about your watershed? If you live in Lexington, click here. Outside Lexington, visit Surf Your Watershed here or Kentucky River Watershed Watch here.

 
1 deborah-larkin-1Deborah Larkin joined Greensource in 2010 as an environmental educator. She works with numerous schools in Fayette County as part of Greensource’s partnership with LFUCG and is responsible for outreach activities in Boyle, Clark, Garrard and Lincoln counties. She received her bachelor’s in horticulture from the University of Kentucky. Before coming to Greensource, Larkin worked for 27 years at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, where she researched and re-established the 19th century apple orchard, herb garden and heirloom seed industry.

This article appeared in KY Forward on April 24, 2014.

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Rain Garden Workshops Uncover Lots of Interest

Rain Garden photo - Scott County

As the weather gets cooler, rain gardens are starting to die back above ground. Yet under the ground, the roots are still very much alive, absorbing water and nutrients to help the plants survive the long winter ahead. Now we can sit back and dream of our rain gardens that will grow next spring and summer.

That is exactly what many homeowners that attended one of our recent rain garden workshops hosted in Jessamine, Scott, and Bourbon Counties will be doing this winter. Not only did participants of these workshops learn about rain gardens, but they were also encouraged to design a rain garden for their property and apply for a grant to help turn the design into a reality. All grant applications are due back to Kara Sayles at kara@bgGreensource.org by Monday, November 18th.

Our goal for the workshops was to help citizens create a successful rain garden in their yard that will thrive for years to come. The workshops showcased what rain gardens are, why they are beneficial, and how to construct one. They also included a hands-on component, led by local nursery professionals that involved planting a garden. These professionals are available for consultations to our workshop participants for their rain garden design and show them which plants will work best for specific yard conditions.

The workshops filled up quickly and were a huge success. We will be conducting a similar round of workshops in Woodford, Clark, and Madison Counties next Fall. We encourage residents of those counties to check back regularly for information about these workshops on our web page at www.BGgreensource.org/rain-gardens/.

We would like to give a huge thank you to the Kentucky Division of Water for supporting our rain garden program in these six counties.  We also thank the following organizations for partnering with us during this adventure: UK’s Agriculture Extension Offices, Springhouse Gardens, Shooting Star Nursery, Ruddles Mill Nursery, Eco Gro, CDP Engineers, and the Scott County Conservation District. Your help was crucial in making this round of workshops so successful!

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