Rain Garden Education Workshops

and Coaching Seminars

 

The Elm Creek, Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions are sponsoring Rain Garden Education Workshops for local residents on April 19 in Maple Grove, May 15 in Plymouth, and June 3 in Crystal. The workshops will be taught and facilitated by Metro Blooms with local landscape ecologist Rusty Schmidt.

 

Part A workshops will teach attendees how to design and install rain gardens, effectively use native plants, trees and shrubs and employ eco-friendly lawn care practices including redirecting downspouts and minimizing or eliminating fertilizers. Attendees will receive a packet of support material. The cost to attend the workshop is $10 per person.

 

Small-group (Part B) seminars will help those who have attended the workshop get individual help with their rain garden design. Metro Blooms Landscape Design Assistants and Master Gardeners will answer individual questions about garden layout and plant selection. The cost for the seminar is $10 per person.  If desired, an on-site consultation with a Design Assistant can also be scheduled by workshop participants for $40. 

 

Four special Native Plant Sales, open to all participants, will be held at various times and locations around the metro area to help participants complete their gardens. Check the dates and locations of these sales at www.metroblooms.org.  A 10% discount is available to Metro Blooms members.

 

Residents may attend a workshop at a time and location most convenient to them. (See below for the complete workshop schedule.)

 

Mail-in registration for the workshops and seminars began February 1.  Online registrations begin March 1 at www.metroblooms.org.  To register by mail, send a check payable to Metro Blooms to: Noelle Hechtman, 3629 Quebec Avenue South, St. Louis Park, MN 55426. Please include your name, address and zip code, phone number with area code, e-mail address (if available) and the workshop number (#W1 – #W16) that you wish to attend. 

 

Rain gardens are shallow basins planted with native perennials that allow rainwater to seep naturally into the ground, preventing stormwater runoff and helping to replenish our groundwater. In addition, rain gardens provide vital wildlife habitat.

 

Metro Blooms is a nonprofit educational and membership organization of gardeners and community volunteers who are dedicated to ecologically friendly gardening education and the celebration of home gardeners, landscapers, community gardeners and business gardeners in the metropolitan Twin Cities. Our mission is to promote and celebrate gardening to beautify our community and to heal and protect our environment. For more information about Metro Blooms visit their website at www.metroblooms.org.

 

 

2008 Rain Garden Workshop A Dates & Locations

 

 

For a complete list of Coaching Seminars (Part B), plant sales and workshop location addresses visit www.metroblooms.org.