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Greener Yards, Cleaner Waters Workshops
The Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network, in partnership with UW-Extension, is offering five "Greener Yards, Cleaner Waters" workshops in 2012. Each workshop will feature a classroom presentation on the causes of polluted stormwater runoff, and on rain gardens, rain barrels, composting, tree and shrub landscaping, and other yard care practices to reduce polluted runoff to our streams, river, and Lake Michigan. Some of the workshops also include a tour of one or more rain garden. A rain barrel will be given away at each workshop in a free drawing. Free oak saplings will be available to workshop attendees.
Stormwater runoff, also called nonpoint pollution, is the number one cause of pollution in our waterways today, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says one rain garden on a quarter-acre lot can reduce annual runoff by 25%. Rain barrels can also reduce runoff by collecting rainwater that would normally flow through the downspouts onto a paved surface, into a storm drain, and into a nearby lake, river, or wetland. Composting can help keep yard waste out of the streets where it would be carried away to our waters during storm events.
Workshop Schedule
Saturday, March 24, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Hales Corners Public Library, 5885 S 116th St, Hales Corners, in partnership with the Village of Hales Corners Public Works Department.
Saturday, March 31, 10:00 a.m. - Noon, Racine County Ives Grove Office Complex, 14200 Washington Ave, Sturtevant, in partnership with Racine County.
Saturday, April 21, 10:00 a.m. - Noon, Gateway Technical College, Racine Building, 1001 S Main St, Racine, in partnership with GTC's Celebrate Earth Day Fair. Tour of nearby rain garden. Enter from lake side rear parking lot.
Saturday, April 21, 10: a.m. - Noon, Gateway Technical College, Technical Building, 3520-30th Ave, Kenosha, in partnership with GTC's Celebrate Earth Day Fair.
Saturday, May 19, 10:00 a.m. - Noon, Bristol Village Hall, 19801 83rd Street, Bristol, in partnership with the Village of Bristol.
Homeowners, businesses and organizations that want to apply for a rain garden grant are required to attend a "Greener Yards, Cleaner Waters" workshop. Participants will learn how to select a good site, determine its size, depth and shape, and the role of native plants, and how to plant and maintain the garden. Grants cover between 50 and 100 percent of the cost of plants and mulch for rain gardens up to 300 square feet.
Workshops are free and open to the public. To register online, go to:
or email
or call
(262) 898-2055