Beautifying Your Yard for Healthy Streams - Residential Rain Gardens
Benefits of Rain Gardens
Rain gardens, also known as bioretention areas, are attractive landscape features that allow rain water and snow melt to infiltrate into the ground. A layer of mulch and plants intercept water running off streets, driveways, and rooftops, slowing its flow and removing pollutants before the water reaches local streams, the Occoquan River and the Potomac River, drinking water supplies for the region.
Workshop Schedule
Our next workshop will be held as follows:
Saturday, March 2, 2019
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Mason District Government Center
6507 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003
Registration is at
Please revisit periodically for new dates and locations! If you are interested in receiving notices of upcoming workshops via email, please contact Corey Miles.
Workshop Presentations
Function and Benefits of Rain Garden
Corey Miles, Senior Environmental Planner, Northern Virginia Regional Commission
Designing and Building a Rain Garden
Maria Harwood, Conservation Planner, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District
Selecting Plants and Landscaping a Rain Garden
Christin Jolicoeur, Senior Watershed Planner, Arlington County Department of Environmental Services
Maintaining a Rain Garden and Lessons-Learned
Christin Jolicoeur, Senior Watershed Planner, Arlington County Department of Environmental Services
Corey Miles, Senior Environmental Planner, Northern Virginia Regional Commission
Designing and Building a Rain Garden
Maria Harwood, Conservation Planner, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District
Selecting Plants and Landscaping a Rain Garden
Christin Jolicoeur, Senior Watershed Planner, Arlington County Department of Environmental Services
Maintaining a Rain Garden and Lessons-Learned
Christin Jolicoeur, Senior Watershed Planner, Arlington County Department of Environmental Services
Rain Garden Resources
General Information
Design and Construction
Native Plant Guidance
Maintenance
Examples
Design and Construction
- Rain Garden Design and Construction: A Northern Virginia Homeowner's Guide (Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation District and Fairfax County Park Authority's Resource Management Division)
- Rain Gardens Technical Guide (Virginia Department of Forestry)
- Rain Garden Design Templates (Low Impact Development Center, Inc.)
- Web Soil Survey (USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service)
- 10 Common Rain Garden Plants (Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District)
- Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping - Chesapeake Bay Watershed (US Fish and Wildlife Service)
- Plant NOVA Natives
- Maintaining Stormwater Systems - A Guidebook for Private Owners and Operators in Northern Virginia (Northern Virginia Regional Commission)
- Original Proposal for the Rain Gardens at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
(City of Falls Church)
Workshop Partners
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services, co-sponsor the Beautifying Your Yard for Healthy Streams rain garden workshops.
NVRC's participation is funded, in part, by Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through grants provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended.
NVRC's participation is funded, in part, by Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through grants provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended.