Rain Garden workshop

The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy's Clear Creeks Project is looking for volunteers to help plant a Rain Garden at a private residence in White Marsh.

When: Saturday July 30, 2016 10 am - 2 pm

Where: Bowerman - Loreley Beach, 5903 Loreley Beach Road White Marsh MD 21162

Do you want to make your backyard more beautiful and attractive to wildlife? Do you want to know why changing your garden could help change the fate of our waterways? We hope you will join us and learn how to do it while giving back to the community! No gardening experience necessary...and FREE lunch included!! Dress for yard work and bring a water bottle.

This event will happen RAIN or SHINE. Try to arrive by 9:45 am to sign in and meet other participants.

REGISTER: Contact Amy Young (ayoung@gunpowdervc.org), Clear Creeks Project Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator. You can also register online at: gunpowdervalleyconservancy.org/volunteer

What is a Rain Garden? A rain garden is a special, water loving garden that helps soak up rain water from your roof or driveway. It is designed to capture water from a 1" rain storm and is planted in low spots in your yard to absorb and filter the water then slowly infiltrate it back into the ground. They are planted with beautiful, native flowers, grasses and even trees that will beautify your yard while reducing stormwater impacts. A Rain Garden also provides habitat for wildlife, beneficial insects, such as lady bugs, and pollinators like butterflies.

What will I learn? You will learn about simple, effective, and environmentally sound ways to control storm water runoff, which will help improve the waters of Middle River and the Tidal Gunpowder River. Storm water runoff is the rain water that flows over hard surfaces to the storm drains or directly to a water body. Storm water carries pollution to a stream, creek or the Bay unfiltered. Learn how to divert rain water draining from impervious surfaces to a Rain Garden. Learn how a Rain Garden functions, how it is designed and how it is constructed. This is a hands-on learning experience, including planting the rain garden.

Live in the Perry Hall-White Marsh area? You might be eligible to have a Rain Garden installed on your property at an 80% discount! The Clear Creeks Project, coordinated by the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, is a grant-funded, citizen based initiative that helps answer a community desire to restore the water quality of the Middle River, Tidal Gunpowder, and Bird River watersheds. Our professional landscape designers will assess your property for FREE to determine if a Rain Garden would be a good fit for your property. For more information, contact Amy Young (ayoung@gunpowdervc.org), Clear Creeks Project Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator.

The Clear Creeks Project (www.clearcreeks.org), coordinated by the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, is a grant-funded, citizen-based initiative that helps answer a community desire to restore the water quality of the Middle River, Tidal Gunpowder, and Bird River watersheds. The project is also funded by: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Baltimore County Maryland, Baltimore Gas & Electric, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.