Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping

Raingardens and Maintenance 

More and more communities in Minnesota are installing raingardens in their parks and as part of street reconstruction projects to manage stormwater runoff. The educational materials and resources on this page will help you to train parks and public works staff on raingarden design, installation and maintenance.  

Raingarden Maintenance 101  Use this informative and funny video to teach parks and public works staff the basics in raingarden maintenance.   To order a high resolution DVD that includes this video and the parks maintenance training video in Quicktime and Windows versions ($25), please use this order form. A copy of the video is included in every toolkit.   This poster (pdf)(Zip files) can be placed in a breakroom or tool shed to remind staff of the maintenance steps outlined in the video.   Print these wallet cards (pdf)(Zipfiles)  to remind  staff of maintenance steps while they are out in the field.   Use this PowerPoint presentation as a refresher course 1-2 years later.   Administer this questionnaire before the initial training and 1-2 years later to evaluate the effectiveness of your training.

Raingarden Design  The Blue Thumb Guide to Raingardens is an easy-to-use book with full color photos.   Use the Minnesota State Stormwater Manual and Plants for Stormwater Design as reference tools for designing and installing larger bioretention systems.    Additionally, there are several videos produced locally that show the process for building a raingarden. Dakota County SWCD video Metro Blooms video  VLAWMO videos - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Proof that raingardens work Raingardens help to reduce stormwater volume and keep pollutants out of lakes and rivers. See these studies for more info.   Burnsville Raingarden Study USGS Raingarden Study Maplewood Lessons Learned  Operations and Maintenance  Refer to the BMP Assessment Manual for more detailed information or use one of these operations and maintenance plans.   Maplewood O&M Plan Cottage Grove P&R Maintenance Plan Brown's Creek O&M Agreement Maplewood Raingarden Designs Butterfly Daylily Prairie Shady Shrub Sunny Sunny border Stormwater U Workshop Info Infiltration Design Raingarden Maintenance 101 Related Links MN Stormwater manual Assessment manual for BMP's (U of MN)Urban small sites BMP manual (MetCouncil) Blue Thumb - Planting for Clean Water