REMINDER: Rain Garden Workshop - March 3rd

Our goal for this program is to install at least sixteen (16) gardens within our watershed over the next two years to help improve the lake’s water quality. This free program is open to residents of Jefferson, Hopatcong, Mount Arlington and Roxbury who reside in the Lake Hopatcong Watershed to learn the basics of rain garden installation and design a rain garden for your home.

Ther will be two classes on March 3, 2021, the first starts at 12:00 PM and the Second Starts at 7:00 PM.

As part of the registration process, attendees will be given the option to sign up for a free follow-up rain garden design session with Rutgers landscape professionals. With detailed guidance in hand, rebates may be awarded to participating residents who install a rain garden or shoreline buffer designed by Rutgers on their property. Our first two workshops were held on June 4, 2020. Two additional workshops will be held in Winter/Spring 2021. To qualify for the rebate program attendance at one of the workshops is required.

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program offers Stormwater Management in Your Backyard training lectures to the Master Gardener and Environmental Steward programs located throughout New Jersey's counties. If your county's Master Gardener/Environmental Steward program would like to participate in the Stormwater Management in Your Backyard program, please contact the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program Rain Garden Team. Lectures can be adapted for various time slots including new class curriculums, special sessions and in combination with a demonstration project.

Over 125 demonstration rain gardens have been installed and are being maintained throughout the State of New Jersey. They are collaborative projects between the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program, various Rutgers Cooperative Extension County offices, local stakeholders and volunteers. Demonstration rain gardens are intended to serve as living examples to be visited by the general public. They are located in publicly-visible locations and are often the sites of workshops and other events that train homeowners, landscape professionals and gardeners. For detailed information on each of these rain gardens, including location, design considerations and plant layout, please visit the New Jersey Demonstration Rain Garden website.

Rain gardens are specifically designed to manage stormwater runoff, mainly from rooftops, but also from driveways, lawns, roads, and parking lots. Rain gardens look like regular perennial gardens, but they are much more. During a storm, a rain garden fills with water, and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running into storm sewers. Compared to a patch of lawn, a rain garden allows about 30% more water to soak into the ground. Therefore, by capturing stormwater, rain gardens help to reduce nonpoint source pollution (i.e., road sediment/salt, fertilizers, pesticides, bacteria from pet waste, eroded soil, grass clippings, litter, etc.) and help to protect local waterways. Rain gardens also add beauty to neighborhoods and provide wildlife habitat.

For more information or help with registration, please email commissioner@lakehopatcongcommission.org or call the Lake Hopatcong Commission at 973-601-7801.

Funding for this program is provided by a NJDEP CBT & 319(h) grant awarded to the Lake Hopatcong Commission

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