Announcing Blue Thumb Raingarden Workshops Presented by Metro Blooms!

Uncategorized

Media Alert
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Becky Rice
becky@metroblooms.org
612-865-0248
Help keep local rivers and lakes clean with your own raingarden!
Learn how at the 2016 spring workshops hosted by Metro Blooms workshops across metro.

What? Help keep our lakes and rivers clean while creating a beautiful and bee/butterfly-friendly habitat in your yard! This workshop, Raingarden

Workshop: Planting for Pollinators, presented by Metro Blooms will give you an overview of our DIY approach to raingardens and native plants, as well as resources for hire if you need some extra help. You’ll receive recommendations for your property with one-on-one assistance from Metro Blooms landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners, as well as information about cost share programs and how you can apply.
When? March-May 2016
Where? 10 Twin Cities metro locations, with more to come!
How/Register? Visit metroblooms.org or call 651-699-2426 Cost: $15* unless otherwise noted.
Why? In a healthy forest, only about 10 percent of the rain that falls each year leaves the forest as surface runoff.  In a developed urban area, more than 50 percent runs off, carrying pollution to our local water bodies.  Raingardens help runoff soak into the soil to be cleaned naturally, provide excellent homes for bees and butterflies, and recharge our precious groundwater.
Who? Workshop presented by Metro Blooms, sponsored by the Cities of Minneapolis, Plymouth, Edina, St. Louis Park and Champlin, St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Hennepin County Master Gardeners, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commission, Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission, and the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission. Metro Blooms has presented raingarden workshops for the last ten years helping over 8,000 homeowners and businesses install raingardens throughout the metro area.

*You can also mail your registration and $15 payment to Raingarden Workshop Registration, P.O. Box 17099, Minneapolis, MN 55417. Enclose a check, payable to Metro Blooms, and include the workshop location, your name, address, zip code, phone number and your email address.

 

Register now. Some locations fill up fast. The $15 workshops will be offered March through May:

 

Date Day Time Location
March 31 Thursday 6-9 PM Longfellow Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
April 13 Wednesday 6-9 PM Edina Public Works Building
April 19 Tuesday 6-9 PM St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Plymouth (FREE)
April 23 Saturday 1-4 PM Lake Hiawatha Recreation Center
April 28 Thursday 6-9 PM Audubon Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
May 5 Thursday 6-9 PM Brooklyn Center Community Center
May 12 Thursday 6-9 PM Champlin City Hall
May 18 Wednesday 6-9 PM Pearl Park Recreation Center, Minneapolis
May 21 Saturday 1-4 pm North Regional Library,, Minneapolis (FREE)
May 25 Wednesday 6-9 PM St. Louis Park Recreation Center

 

Date Day Time Plant Sale Location
May 28 Saturday 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM Annual Plymouth Native Plant Sale

Barnabas Lutheran Church, Plymouth
June 4 Saturday 9:00 AM-3:00 PM Landscape Revival: Native Plant Expo and Market

Community Pavilion at the Roseville Cub Foods, Roseville

Want to know more?

Whether you are an experienced gardener or have never tried gardening before, this eco-friendly workshop will help you learn how to:

 

  • Keep our water clean with native plants, raingardens, and shoreline plantings
  • Create pollinator habitat by using beautiful native plants in your landscape
  • Redirect your downspouts and install a rain barrel
  • Design your landscape with one-on-one assistance from landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners
  • Adopt healthy yard care practices to improve our land and water habitat

What is a raingarden?

 

A raingarden is a shallow depression in the ground that is designed to capture rainwater and allow it to soak into the ground within 48 hours. Raingardens are best designed with plants that are well adapted to the unique conditions of the garden and your region (such as local native plants).

Fast Facts about runoff and native plants:

  • Every time it rains one inch, an average urban residential property sheds about 5,400 gallons of stormwater runoff.
  • The EPA defines stormwater runoff as the number one threat to water quality in our lakes and streams.
  • According to conservation expert Doug Tallamy, 95% of our native plants nationwide have been removed. This is problematic because native plants are the base of the food web. Native plants support the insects that support the birds that support larger animals, and so on. From a human perspective, native plants support the pollinators that pollinate approximately ⅓ of the food we eat!

Metro Blooms, a local non-profit organization, works to strengthen communities by promoting environmentally-sound landscaping that beautifies neighborhoods and protects our environment. Metro Blooms has been partnering with Twin Cities Metro communities to provide low-cost raingarden workshops since 2005. Follow us on Twitter: @MetroBlooms