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Rain Gardens
Rain Garden Information Center
Resources from the Water Resources Program:
General Information
- Stormwater Management in Your Backyard Rain Garden Outreach Manual ~ Winner of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Communications Award, National Finalist for Learning Module
- Rain Garden Manual of New Jersey ~ Check it out!
- An Introduction to Rain Gardens - Rutgers Cooperative Extension
This double-sided color brochure (8.5” x 14”) is useful for distribution at public events and meetings. It provides a quick summary of rain gardens and stormwater issues. It’s great for a general audience. - Rain Gardens, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet #513, February 2006
This four-page color document provides a brief explanation of how to design, install and maintain a rain garden suitable for a roof downspout, driveway or small parking lot (PDF, 595 KB). - Rain Garden Installation Services Directory
The rain garden training for professional landscapers provides landscape professionals throughout New Jersey with the skills needed to install and maintain a rain garden, as well as assisting them with marketing for their new service offering. The professional landscape businesses that completed the classroom training and the hands-on installation demonstration program in 2008-2009 are listed in this directory.
Articles
- The Demonstration Rain Garden - Journal of Extension, April 2008
This article describes how a demonstration project can be a useful educational tool and highlights the successes of the Union County, New Jersey demonstration program—a collaborative effort between, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County, the Water Resources Program, Master Gardeners and local stakeholders. - Bioretention Column Study: Fecal Coliform and Total Suspended Solids Reductions – Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. 2007. 50(4):1261-1269
Other Resources:
Disclaimer: Some of these resources have been developed for regions that do not include New Jersey. Please consider this in terms of plant selection, climate, soil type and terrain.
Mobile Apps
Background: Originally developed for CT with funding from CT Sea Grant, the Rain Garden mobile application walks a user through how to properly site, size, install, and maintain a rain garden. It includes a series of video tutorials, a google maps based sizing tool, NRCS soils data, a plant selector tool, and a personalized database to manage rain garden projects. It is available for both iOS and Android devices (just search for "Rain Garden” in your favorite app store). Oh, and its Free!
Multi-State: With funding from the USDA NIFA Water program and help from our wonderful partners in other states, we have reconfigured the app to allow for state specific information. Users can now search for rain garden plants native to (or at least well adapted to) their state, size their rain garden based on local standards, and view USDA soils data for their location.
- Rain Gardens, A How-To Manual for Homeowners - University of Wisconsin-Extension
- The New Jersey Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual, Chapter 9.1 Standard for Bioretention Systems - New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
- Rain Gardens Technical Guide, Virginia Department of Forestry
- Rain Gardens in Connecticut, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension
Additional Fact Sheets
- Soil Texture, Cornell Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet #29, 2007 – This fact sheet will help you to estimate the sand/silt/clay percentages of your soil based on its classification (i.e. loam, sandy loam, loamy sand, sandy clay, sandy clay loam, etc.; PDF 245 KB).
- Urban Waterways: Designing Rain Gardens (Bio-Retention Areas), North Carolina State University
Websites
