Tour showcases the beauty, benefits of Central Kentucky rain gardens

July 9, 2015By 0 comment

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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 gardens go with the flow, helping reduce runoff, improve water quality

July 9, 2015By 0 comment

As spring shapes up here in Central Kentucky, early flowers are in bloom and trees are starting to bud. For many of us, this sparks an interest in gardening.

One gardening option to consider this year is a rain garden. If you have water issues or just want to enhance your landscape, rerouting stormwater from impervious surfaces around your home into an eco-conscious rain garden.

A rain garden is a garden planted in a shallow depression in the path of stormwater. It allows the water to infiltrate the ground as close to its natural path as possible. One of the most important things to remember when considering a residential rain garden is that it is a garden—plain and simple.

Layout and plant selection are key features in a rain garden, just as in any other garden. Once your site, size and shape are determined, focusing on flowers and other plants is important in making the rain garden an attractive landscape feature for years to come.

There is not a specific model to follow in creating a rain garden. If you have done any gardening at all, you know that the basic recipe for success is preparing the soil and placing the plants in conditions where they will thrive.

Rain garden plants should tolerate standing water for brief intervals, as well a drought conditions. One way to keep a rain garden attractive all year is to make sure the different varieties of flowering plants bloom at different times. Also, adding a variety of heights and textures of plants to your garden will create a sense of depth and visual appeal.

Another consideration for your rain garden is adding garden accessories such as rock or garden benches. This can help incorporate the rain garden into your existing landscaping, as well as give you a nice place to sit and enjoy nature.

If you would like more information about constructing a rain garden, Bluegrass Greensource is offering residential rain garden presentations in Central Kentucky (see below). For more information, check out our rain garden webpage.

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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 article appeared in KY Forward on April 9, 2015.

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Rain gardens have many benefits for your yard and the environment

July 31, 2014By 0 comment

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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Bluegrass Greensource Brings STEM Education to Schools

January 10, 2014By 0 comment

STEM Education photoToo often students struggle to see ‘real world’ applications of Science, Technology, Energy, and Math (STEM) but through Bluegrass Greensource’s hands on activities in area classrooms, students are able to understand and relate.  Our classroom activities encourage students to explore, question, analyze, and even create products used in their everyday lives.

Thanks to a grant funded by the Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence (DEDI), Bluegrass Greensource was able to help local students better understand STEM by teaching them about coal  (its history, economy, and environmental impacts) and about alternative energy sources.

Recently, students at Lincoln County Middle School explored and analyzed alternative energy sources while conducting a Wind Turbine Lab.  With this activity, students reviewed designs of a typical windmill and its blades.  Students were then asked to brainstorm and design their own turbine blade. They examined and considered different shapes, sizes, and materials.   When their design was ready, students began assembling their wind turbine kit and building the blades.  Once assembled, students tested how quickly the turbines rotated using a digital voltage meter. If needed, students were encouraged to go back to the drawing board and reconfigure their designs.

As the students study and analyze their results, their hands-on lab experience gives them a better understanding of STEM’s components and Greensource is able to capture students’ attention and help them learn how to apply this new found knowledge to their daily lives.

For more information about our school programs, go to www.bggreensource.org/pk-12.

 

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Rain Garden Workshops Uncover Lots of Interest

November 14, 2013By 0 comment

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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