Help the environment with your very own rain garden to from Dale Dean Native Landscapes & Restoration.

The rain garden offered for the auction is an installed 120 sq ft rain garden. it includes:

• a site visit
• planning
• plants & seed
• labor
• transportation/mobilization to any location in Wisconsin.
  

Not sure what a rain garden is, read on... 

A rain garden is a specific type of lowered bed for stormwater infiltration; it's designed to collect and store stormwater runoff for a short period of time following a storm.  The collected water infiltrates into the soil and evaporates-and evapotranspirates-into the air within two days to eliminate standing water that could breed mosquitoes.  Evapotranspiration is the process whereby plants soak up water through soil roots and release excess water as vapor through their leaves.

There's something special about rain gardens.  In a world where we often feel helpless to make a significant contribution to sometimes overwhelming problems, rain gardens allow us to do something that we can all feel good about.  By adding one or more of these beautiful native gardens to your home landscape, you will reduce or eliminate the amount of stormwater generated by your property.  That's significant because even a modest home will generate several thousand gallons of stormwater runoff every time deep snow melts or an inch of rain falls.  Larger homes, long driveways and other hard surfaces can combine to produce 10,000 gallons of runoff during a significant storm. 

Rain garden plants are specific native plants that tolerate-and thrive-growing in soils that are subject to widely variable moisture conditions, from complete inundation to near-drought conditions.  These are not your typical, traditional landscape plants, but they are beautiful, with lush green foliage and colorful blooms to please the eye.  Even in heavy clay soils, a rain garden planted with appropriate clay-busting native plants will become more efficient over time as plant roots drill down deep into or through the clay layer, providing additional channels for water infiltration.  Native plants improve the soil, with deep root systems that increase the soil's capacity to hold water. 

Together, the rain garden's structure, soils and plants combine to capture, filter, store and slowly release water to local streams, the air, and the aquifer.  This helps preserve and protect our drinking water quality.

Your rain garden will eliminate or greatly reduce the amount of stormwater runoff generated by your property.  You can help nature clean surface water, recharge groundwater, and maintain stable stream banks-all while enjoying colorful native plants and contributing wildlife habitat for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects.