going green

Building a rain garden (or a couple of rain gardens) in your own yard is probably the easiest and most cost efficient thing you can do to reduce your contribution to stormwater pollution.

A rain garden can mimic the natural absorption and pollutant removal activities of a forest, or a meadow or or a prairie and can absorb runoff more efficiently, sometimes as much as 30% - 40% more then a standard lawn. Capturing rainwater in a rain garden, holding the water for a short time and then slowly releasing it into the soil can reduce the rush of a large storm – quickly, neatly and naturally

Because rain gardens are dug 4" to 8" deep, and in some cases 1' - 2' deep, they hold larger quantities of rainwater making their overall construction more cost efficient then other green alternatives. Rain gardens also need less technical experience to install and can be installed without permits or heavy equipment.

When you create a rain garden - small or large - you get a functional site as well as an eye-catching one. Perennials suited for rain gardens include many garden favorites such as aster, beebalm, daylily, cardinal flower, black-eyed Susan, hosta ect.. Many ferns, grasses and groundcovers also work. "A rain garden can be a beautiful addition to the residential landscape

If you are making an effort to go green, or even to save a few dollars on the monthly water bill, then you might want to think about using a rain barrel to collect rainwater for use during dry times. Rain barrels are an age-old method of rainwater harvesting, which means that they are simply receptacles that are placed outside to collect rainwater for use at a later time