Rain Garden Workshop and Installation

This spring, the Calvert County Watershed Stewards worked with University of Maryland Extension and the Town of North Beach to not only offer a workshop on building a rain garden, but also to learn through hands-on instruction as the final installation of North Beach’s demonstration rain garden was completed.

The site of the new rain garden, located near the entrance to Wetlands Overlook Park, was prepared in advance by the Department of Public Works who also installed a split rail fence to separate the parking area from the rain garden. On May 14, 2022, Calvert County Watershed Stewards Peggy Hartman, Robin Madel and Luke Johnson installed the rain garden and native plants and shrubs. Lisa Garrett, North Beach Community Conservation, worked with local native plant nurseries to choose plants that would showcase a “Recipe for a Rain Garden.” These native plants are also appropriate for residential rain gardens.

Following the rain garden installation, Watershed Restoration Specialist Jacqueline Takacs from the University of Maryland Extension lead participants in a two-hour rain garden workshop. The workshop gave participants the basic understanding of designing, installing and maintaining a rain garden and selecting plants and proper planting techniques. Because of the heavy rain on the date of the event, participants witnessed the effects of rain on the newly-installed garden.

Since the day of the rain garden installation, there have been minor retrofits to deal with the severe storms of recent months and the garden path was installed. In the near future, educational signage will be installed to inform park visitors about rain gardens and their benefits.

This project was funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.