Create Your Own Backyard Rain Garden

Rain Gardens are beautiful ways to protect water quality by reducing stormwater runoff.  These gardens are landscaped areas planted with wild flowers and native vegetation that soak up rain water, mainly from the roof of a house or other building.  Learn how to create this purposeful garden at the Rain Garden workshop held at Mahopac Public Library on Monday, May 23 at 7 pm.  Registration is requested; register at www.mahopaclibrary.org, or call 845-628-2009, ext 100.

The construction of a rain garden allows it fills with a few inches of water after a storm and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running off into a storm drain.  As the suburbs grow, increased stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces creates problems such as local flooding, and carrying pollutants from streets and lawns into local lakes and streams.  By reducing stormwater runoff, rain gardens can be an important part of changing these trends. And while one rain garden may not make a big difference, collectively they produce substantial neighborhood and community environmental changes.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they generally don’t require fertilizer and are more tolerant of one’s local climate, soil, and water conditions, and attract local wildlife such as native birds. The plants may include a selection of wetland edge vegetation, such as wildflowers, sedges, rushes, ferns, shrubs and small trees.

To learn more about Rain Gardens, and to get planting ideas and instructions, individuals should attend the Rain Garden workshop offered at the Library on May 23.  This workshop is presented in cooperation with Cornell Cooperation Extension of Putnam County with support from the Friends of Mahopac Library. For further information call 845-628-2009, ext 109.

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