2019 YOUNG WATERSHED STEWARD AWARD WINNER
Henry Welliver, a Hamline-Midway resident, organized the planting of a large rain garden for his Eagle Scout service project. Henry coordinated 28 volunteers to plant nearly 400 native perennials in a rain garden1 along the west parking lot of the new Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) building at 595 Aldine. Scouts, siblings, parents and friends came together one evening to complete the planting.
Megan, CRWD’s MN GreenCorps member, welcomed the group with a presentation about CRWD and a tour of our new building. Andrew Novak, CRWD Urban BMP Specialist and resident rain garden expert conducted a planting demonstration. Henry had already mapped out the garden planting plan with the help of Andrew. The volunteers were taught how to decipher the map and place marker flags for orientation. Henry divided the volunteers into groups to tackle tasks and the fun began. Within a few hours the gardens were dotted with new seedlings.
With several recent rainstorms the perennials are growing well and thriving in their new environment while absorbing and filtering stormwater runoff from the nearby parking lot (see photo at top of page). The rain garden plants include:
Chelone gabra – Turtlehead
Juncus effusus – Soft Rush
Coreopsis verticillta ‘Moonbeam’ – Threadleaf Coreopsis
Carex vulpinoidea – Fox Sedge
Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ – Switch Grass
Nepeta faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ – Walker’s Low Catmint
Bouteloua gracilis – Blue Grama Grass
Iris versicolor – Blue Flag Iris
Helenium autumnale – Sneezeweed
Agastache foeniculum – Fragrant Hyssop
Schyzachyrium scoparis – Little Bluestem grass
Allium stellatum – Prairie Onion
Echinacea purpurea ‘Rubinstern’ – Ruby Star Coneflower
Monarda didyma ‘Raspberry Wine’ – Raspberry Wine Bee Balm
Baptisia alba – White Indigo
To learn more about rain gardens and other stormwater best management practices (BMPs) visit the Stewardship Grants page.
View Stewardship Grants Overview PDF for more on Rain Gardens and a Gardening Guide
1 Rain gardens capture runoff from hard surfaces like roads, driveways and parking lots. The water is cleaned as it soaks into the ground.
