Sunday, February 8, 2009

Rain Gardens

I was able to attend the Rain Garden educational workshop Saturday morning. I thought the attendance was very good, (from what I saw, it appeared that every seat was taken). The workshop was very informative and interesting. Shaena Smith, from the Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District, did an excellent job with her presentation on Rain Gardens- Why You Should Build One and How to Do It and Pond Edge Enhancements- What and Why. Tom Stottlemyer, with the City of Noblesville Utilities, did a presentation on What is Storm Water and Why Should I Care? and Rain Barrels, Water Conservation, and Other Ideas. The information he shared was very interesting. It inspired me to try and do more to prevent personal home pollution and storm water runoff.

They are very serious in their effort to eliminate as much storm water runoff as possible and provide a cost-sharing program to help homeowners, schools, neighborhoods and churches build rain gardens. They will also come to your home and advise you on building a rain garden.

All was not positive though, I was so dissapointed to learn that the Noblesville Rain Garden has been put on hold due to issues involving the downtown location. I do hope they can resolve these issues soon.

I asked Shaena if I could share some of the information on my blog, and she gave me permission. Here is the rain garden handout that was given today. If time permits, tomorrow I'll tell about the Pond Edge Enhancements.





17 comments:

tina said...

That is a shame on the Noblesville garden. Hopefully with time it will be completed.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Interesting! I think I have such spot in my garden and can use this information. Thanks for sharing!

F Cameron said...

The information and concept for your community is so wonderful. I do hope the construction will be done for Noblesville.

We love our rain garden -- the beauty and the benefits to the environment as well as protecting our home and gardens from runoff.

Cameron

F Cameron said...

The information and concept for your community is so wonderful. I do hope the construction will be done for Noblesville.

We love our rain garden -- the beauty and the benefits to the environment as well as protecting our home and gardens from runoff.

Cameron

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Thanks for the info,this gives me some ideas to think about.
Blessings,Ruth

NCmountainwoman said...

Our community is having sessions on rain gardens as well. It's a wonderful idea.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Ihave a low spot in my garden that I have thought about working toward a rain garden. This post spurs me to think more about it.

Gail said...

Robin,

I am glad you were able to attend such an informative program. Thank you for sharing it with us. Having clay soil that hates to drain...it seems I would be digging 2 feet down! Halfway to a pond! Tempting!

Gardeness said...

Helpful information Robin. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to do more of a xeriscape garden, but I love visiting rain gardens whenever I can!

Kerri said...

Thanks for sharing this info, Robin. It's certainly something to think about.
I hope the issues about the Hamilton rain garden can be cleared up so that the project can go ahead.
I loved reading about your hawk..funny :) Your photos of it and all the other birds are really wonderful! They're so fascinating to watch, aren't they? I see your kitty thinks so too :)

Anonymous said...

That's too bad your community rain garden has been put on hold Robin. I hope whatever the issues are, they can be resolved soon too. It's such a great idea. I'm wondering if there is a place to create one in my yard. I'll have to think about that. Thanks for sharing all the great information.

Sherri said...

I think rain gardens are so important. I work for a commercial construction company and we put in alot of rain gardens on our large projects. I always feel great when I see them on the drawings and they turn out really wonderful!! I hope Noblesville will get theirs soon!

Anonymous said...

It's a creative way to deal with storm water and run-off. I wonder why it is no longer funded or on hold?Storm water fees can't usually be spent on anything but storm water.

Could be the way cities are cutting the whole budget. All the towns around me have declared no raises this year. Lots of issues with that. If they cut personnel, they will not have the people to build the pond. One thing affects another.

So sorry for your town as it seems like just the thing everyone would enjoy. When we can't afford to do much else, we can look at gardens.

Bren Haas said...

This is wonderful information. I am going to share it with my garden group. THANK YOU for taking the time to post this.
Warm Wishes from my garden in the Midwest.

Anonymous said...

I am sure glad to see people doing things like this. It is important and not enough attention has been given to our environment in a long time. I hope President Obama addresses some of them while he is still very popular and in a position to set an example. More power to you and to the others.

RURAL said...

Hi Robin, regarding your comment on my blog, you said that you love to take flower photos in the store, but you feel uncomfortable.

I go to smaller non chain stores, I walk in with my camera, and I do ask if it is OK to take some photos. I have never been turned down yet. Sometimes I will drop off a card from the photos that I took. They remember me the next time that I ask.

Jen