Rain Garden web sites

Rain Garden Basics

• Dane County's My Fair Lakes Rain Garden Basics [exit DNR]
• Rain Garden Basics from West Michigan [exit DNR]
• The City of Maplewood, MN Rainwater Garden Website (includes photos and a care guide) [exit DNR]

How to Build a Rain Garden

• Edgewood College's (Madison, WI) rain garden guide including a 10 step process to build your own rain garden. [exit DNR]
• Chicago's Rain Garden Network web site includes steps to build and maintain a rain gardens. [exit DNR]

Rain Garden Publications

• "Rain Gardens: A Household Way To Improve Water Quality in Your Community"
  by University of Wisconsin Publication #GWQ037 [PDF 696KB]
• "Rain Gardens: A How -To Manual for Homeowners"
  by University of Wisconsin Publication #GWQ034 [PDF 3.2MB]
• "Landscape Ecology & Landscape Architecture"
  by Barr Engineering [PDF 1.2MB]

Rain Garden Plant Resources

• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Native Plants for Rain Gardens Database.
• "Wisconsin Native Plant Sources and Restoration Consultants."
  Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Publication #wt-802 [PDF 2.4MB]
• Friends of Bassett Creek's (Minneapolis, MN) rain garden guide includes a plant/shrub list for both sunny and shady areas. [exit DNR]

Rain Garden Examples and Case Studies

• "Maryland developer grows rain gardens to control residential runoff." US EPA Urban Runoff Notes. [exit DNR]
• Examples and photos of transportation related rain gardens from the Low Impact Development Center. [exit DNR]
• Seattle's Stormwater Utility's downloadable before and after rain garden photos. [exit DNR]
• Puget Sound Action Team's natural approach to stormwater management. [exit DNR]

Links to More Links

• Rain garden resources and links from Dane County, Wisconsin. [exit DNR]
• Earth & Water Works, LLC is a commercial rain garden designer and installer. [exit DNR]

Rain Barrels

Rain barrels are a way of storing rain water runoff for later distribution to rain gardens, lawns and for other uses around the yard.

• Rain Barrel Basics

  • "Water Saving in the Garden: some basic facts about cisterns and rainbarrels."
    King County, Washington Department of Natural Resources and Parks. [PDF 898 KB]
  • "What is a Rain Barrel."
    U.S. EPA. This publication includes rain barrel purchasing information. [PDF 45KB]
  • HarverstH20.com: the online rainwater harvesting community. [exit DNR]

• How To Create and Install a Rain Barrel

  • HGTV's step by step guide to build your own rain barrel [exit DNR]

• Rain Barrel Examples

  • City of Vancouver Rain Barrel Program [exit DNR]
  • Low Impact Development Center's step by step sustainable school projects [exit DNR]
  • Sustain Dane Rain Barrel Program [exit DNR]
  • Rain Barrel Sources in Southern Wisconsin [PDF 22KB]

Stormwater Management

• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Storm Water Management website.
• Center for Watershed Protection's Stormwater Manager's Resource Center [exit DNR]
• Milwaukee River Basin Partnership's Guide to Stormwater Management [exit DNR]
• "The Changing Face of Stormwater Management: What you need to know to improve stormwater management in your community."
  Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. [PDF 227KB]