Rutgers Cooperative Extension Rain Garden Project. GOAL: T

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Rain Garden Demonstration Sites to Promote
Groundwater Protection

• Madeline Flahive DiNardo, Agricultural Agent
• Amy Boyajian, Student Intern
• Dr. Christopher Obropta, Specialist in Water
  Quality
• Greg Rusciano, Program Associate in Water Quality

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What is a Rain Garden?
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What is a Rain Garden?

• Landscaped areas that treat stormwater runoff.
• Designed to merge two important goals aesthetics
  and water quality.
• Can be blended into the landscape and made to
  look natural.
• Water is directed into them by pipes, swales, or
  curb openings.

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Rutgers Cooperative Extension Rain Garden
Project

• GOAL To have the rain gardens serve as a model
  for county residents who are interested in
  controlling polluted runoff and to help recharge
  the groundwater
• FUNDING New Jersey Department of Environmental
  Protection grant to Rutgers Cooperative Extension
  and partial funding from the USDA Regional Water
  Coordination Program

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2005 Storm Water Management Class

• Storm Water 101
• Storm Water Best Management Practices (BMPs)
• Design and Implementation of Storm Water
• BMPs Technical and Backyard Advice
• Rain Garden Maintenance and Long Term Success
• www.rwqp.rutgers.edu

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2005 Rain Garden Partners

• Rutgers Master Gardeners of Union County
• Rahway River Association

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2005 Rain Garden Partners

• Walnut Avenue Elementary School, Cranford, NJ
• Hanson Park Conservancy
• Cranford, NJ

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2005 Rain Garden Partners

• Fanwood Public Library
• Fanwood, NJ
• Woodbridge Health Department
  
  
• Woodbridge, NJ

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2005 Rain Garden Partners
Support from Municipal Public Works Departments
were Key to the Success of the Projects !
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Rain Garden Plantings
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Rain Garden Plantings
Black-eyed Susan
Cardinal Flower
Swamp Rose Mallow
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Master Gardeners Maintain Rain Gardens

• Watering
• Weeding
• Pruning

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Rain Garden Maintenance
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Rain Garden Education

• Childrens Programs
• Walnut Avenue Elementary School
• Fanwood Library
• 85 students participated.
• Clean Up Messy Town
• Enviroscape
• Tour of Rain Garden

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Program Evaluation

• Identify sources of water pollution
• Identify ways to protect ground water

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Rain Garden Education

• Evaluation Results
• Students could identify 50 more ways to protect
  ground water.
• On a scale of 1 -3, 3 indicating they learned a
  lot, students rated their learning about
  protecting ground water as 2.71 and rain gardens
  as 2.63.
• 68 of the students will tell someone what they
  learned about rain gardens.
• 96 would like to learn more about protecting
  water.

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Rain Garden Education

• Presentation on How to Build a Rain Garden
• Garden tours
• Web site www.fanwoodlibrary.org/raingarden
• Fact sheets
• Poster

Evening tour of Fanwood Rain Garden
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Program Evaluation

• Pre/Post Program Survey
• 10 True / False Questions
• Define Watershed
• Groundwater flow
• Parts of the rain garden
• Proper depth of garden
• Location of rain garden
• Maintenance tasks

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Program Evaluation Results

• 30 Adult participants improved their score by an
  average of 13.
• Pre-program survey scores ranged from 40 to 90.
  The average score was 63 and the mode was 60.
• Post-program survey scores ranged from 70 to
  100. The average score was 78 and the mode was
  70.

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Program Evaluation Results

• Questions that participants improved their scores
  on were in regards to
• Parts of the rain garden
• Proper depth of a rain garden
• Care of native grasses
• Limited use of fertilizers in rain gardens
• Follow-up survey looked at
• What participants learned
• Number of rain gardens planted
• Reasons participants may not have planted rain
  gardens

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Follow-up Survey Results

• Two residential gardens were planted.
• Two participants plan to install rain gardens.
• Reasons participants did not plant rain gardens
• Poor drainage on property
• Labor
• Cost

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Whats Next?

• Our fifth community demonstration garden was
  planted at the Springfield Municipal Building
  this spring.
• USDA CSREES National Integrated Water Quality
  Grant.

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Questions?
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Thank You !