News from June, 2008

Contents

News Archive
All Months in 2008

Metro Blooms Offers Grants For Rain Gardens

Link to Video and KARE 11 website

The local gardening group Metro Blooms will provide information and some money for Hennepin County residents willing to dig into a rain garden project.

"We've got Virginia Bluebells over here. This is an iris," Minnehaha Creek Watershed Educator Julie Westerlund said as she pointed out specific plants in a Lori Anderson's Minneapolis yard.

The patch of plants is like a treasure chest for green thumbs.

"They have great root systems," Westerlund said of the native plants surrounding her.

The collection of plants and grasses is called a ...
More

Want Cleaner Lakes? Start In Your Own Back Yard

Good gardening practices can help a yard thrive and keep nearby waters clean, as illustrated by efforts in the Rice Creek Watershed District.

BLUE THUMB PLANTING FOR CLEAN WATER

For more information, go to www.bluethumb.org. Grants are administered by county conservation districts.

Other watershed districts may offer clean-water gardening grants. For help finding a district, go to www.cleanwatermn.org or www.mnwatershed.org.

By MARIA ELENA BACA , Star Tribune Last update: June 18, 2008 - 12:59 AM Dawn Gustafson spotted a Monarch butterfly in her back garden one morning last week. It darted from the golden alexander to ...
More

Rain Man

CARAG - Steve and Connie Green's frontyard garden at 34th Street & Hennepin Avenue has been part of the annual neighborhood garden tour for several years.

But lately it's the system used to water the garden that's drawing community attention.

Using a network of gutters, pipes, pumps and a 1,000-gallon tank, Steve has developed a rainwater reclamation setup that saves up to 12,000 gallons each year. He and several neighbors reuse the water throughout the spring and summer on adjoining gardens.

"In every sense of the word, it's a green idea," Steve said.

Steve, 65, and ...
More