A sign for the rain garden at Casto Park was installed yesterday. The Casto Park rain garden was a partnership project with City of Columbus, Friends of Alum Creek and Tributaries, and Central Ohio Rain Garden Initiative, made possible with funding from an Ohio American Water grant.
A sign for the rain garden at Westgate Park was also installed. The Westgate Park rain garden was a partnership project with the City of Columbus, Friends of the Scioto River, Friends of Westgate Park, and the Central Ohio Rain Garden Initiative.
OSU is planning on putting in a rain garden as a gift from the class of 2010! Check out this link for details: http://cph.osu.edu/news/newsstory.cfm?id=182
We are excited to announce that we are developing a quarterly newsletter, and the first issue should be ready near the first of the New Year! We are hoping to include a section called “Ask CORGI” where we feature questions about rain gardens from you, our audience. If you have a question that you would like answered, and perhaps featured in our newsletter, please go to our section “Contact Us” on this website and submit your question.
The Dakota County Soil & Water Conservation District in Minnesota have released a video demonstrating a residential rain garden installation. Watch it after the jump.
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Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW), in partnership with Sierra Club, Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Central Ohio Rain Garden Initiative (CORGI), will construct a rain garden and water catchment system this fall at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville, funded by a $10,000 grant from MillerCoors and RiverNetwork.
This demonstration project is step one in FLOW’s goal of 10 similar projects at local schools, churches, small businesses and other institutions by 2012. Thanks to the outreach campaign associated with this project, several community groups are taking steps towards installing their own rain gardens!
Community members and First UU members met at two meetings in early August to learn more about rain gardens, preview the design for the First UU rain garden, and sign up to help with installation. Construction is set to take place later this fall. To learn more about this project or get involved, contact Heather Dean at hdean@olentangywatershed.org or 614-267-3386.
If you’ve installed a rain garden at your home, you can have a yard sign to show your neighbors, friends, and family members your participation in water conservation and beautifying your neighborhood! Please visit the Franklin Soil & Water Conservation District office to buy your sign for just $15, or call for any questions (614-486-9613). Cash and checks are accepted. You can also visit our Resources page to calculate how much water your rain garden collections annually.
On behalf of 
Friends of Alum Creek and Tributaries (FACT), thank you to the thirty-three volunteers who took time on a beautiful Saturday morning (Sept. 12th) to plant a rain garden and remove invasive honeysuckle in Casto Park. Overall, 78 native wildflowers and grasses were planted next to the picnic shelter in a rain garden and nearly 300 linear feet of invasive honeysuckle was removed along West Spring Run. These actions are important!
Special thanks to the following organizations, businesses, and individuals:
- Otterbein College for providing outstanding volunteer “Plunge” helpers this spring and fall 2009 at Casto Park to hands-on address erosion along West Spring Run.
- Ohio Dominican University students who helped turn the ground in the early hours and stayed past lunch to help clean up.
- Ohio American Water Company for funding the rain garden plant materials plus the future trees/bushes to be installed in October.
- Stephanie Suter at Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District for her rain garden technical expertise.
- Tina Mohn, from Columbus Recreation and Parks, for providing on the ground assistance and city encouragement.
- Columbus Recreation and Park Dept. for supporting the project, and providing wood mulch chips and safety fencing.
- Walt Reiner, President of Top Soil Direct, for donating organic compost.
- John Stark, President of Deck Masters, for donating Bobcat equipment service and labor with earth digging preparation
- Duncan Campbell for pick-up truck hauling and labor.
Here’s the story of a couple in Minnesota who gave back to their community with rain gardens on their 50th wedding anniversary…
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/54764972.html?page=1&c=y
Many of our gardens across Central Ohio receive media attention or set up videos of installations. Below is local information on our Central Ohio rain gardens:
COSI rain garden installation – YouTube video
Westgate Park rain garden installation website
