Rain Garden Designs

Rain gardens are excellent infrastructures to help capture excess stormwater and improve water quality. They are also aesthetically pleasing. Interested in installing one, but do not know where to begin?  The City of Maplewood, MN has a great website about starting rain gardens and even have some designs for those who are artistically challenged. Click here for more info.

The following are a few designs. Plants are hardy to Zone 4 (perfect for Superior). Designs are meant for small (8’x16’ to 12’x24) gardens, perfect for the city lot.

Butterflies and Friends

Prairie Garden

Rain Gardens/Low Impact Development Webinar TODAY

The fifth installment in the Environmental Matters Webinar Series, "Native Plants to the Rescue", is today at 12:00 PM.  Register to attend at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/831658063

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Creating a Rain Garden in Your Yard- Workshop at Fairlawn Mansion

Fairlawn Mansion is doing a series of Garden Talks on Thursdays from 6:00-8:00 PM.  On April 4th, Sue O'Halloran from Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve will be giving a presentation on creating a rain garden in your yard.  We will also be presenting a webinar about rain gardens in April (go here for registration and date). 

So what are rain gardens?  They are shallow depressions intended to collect and slow rain water that runs off your roof.  They are planted with wetland plants or wet prairie plants.  The type of plants used depends on your soil type.  Here in Superior, we're a part of Lake Superior's red clay plain. 

Rain gardens protect stormwater quality and are aethestically pleasing as well.  Consider learning more about rain gardens at the Fairlawn Garden Talk or at our webinar.  For more information on rain gardens, please see the links and video below. 

A local video about a rain garden in Duluth, produced by Minnesota SeaGrant.


City of Superior Rain Gardens

Duluth Streams Rain Gardens

Wisconsin DNR Rain Gardens

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards