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Printer version: Gardens grow with the flow <br />INFORMATION <br />startribune.com <br />Last update: April 26, 2005 at 1:25 PM <br />Gardens grow with the flow <br />Sarah McCann <br />Staz Tribune <br />Published Apri127, 2005 <br />Rain gazdens aze an environmental strategy with solid roots in the north metro. <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />Close window <br />Mother Nature, conservationists and city officials say they adore the landscaping design, which is a <br />natural, inexpensive way to cleanup water that flows into streams, rivers and lakes. <br />Maplewood helped pioneer the method in Minnesota and continues to be flooded with callers from <br />across the country looking for resources. <br />Rain gardens aze made by creating a dip in land or the side of a curb and arranging native plants inside <br />the slope. The gazdens collect rainwater, soak it up within about two days and return the moisture to the <br />ground. <br />Developed azeas with buildings, paved roads and pazking lots don't let rain back into the ground. <br />Instead, water that drops on those hazd surfaces collects everything in its path -- fertilizer, oil, pet waste, <br />soap, pesticides, litter -- and it all heads into the waters Minnesotans aze so proud of. <br />"A lot of people think [stormwater] goes to water treatment," said Virginia Gaynor, a rain gazden <br />horticulturist for Maplewood. "It doesn't. It goes duectly to lakes and streams." <br />One problem is the phosphorus found in grass clippings. A little bit of the mineral leads to a lot of algae <br />in water. <br />"Homeowners with these beautifully manicured green lawns right up to the edge complain about why <br />the lake is so green," said Dawn Dubats, environmental educational coordinator for the Rice Creek <br />Watershed District. They're contributing to algae with their lawns, she said. <br />Native plants help with many pollution problems because they have long roots measuring up to 16 <br />inches, Dubats said. Typical lawn plant roots are only a few inches long. Native root systems can <br />tolerate more water, filter it and keep more of it in the land. <br />North-metro gardens <br />Birchwood Village was concerned about pollution and erosion because of bad water systems, so this <br />spring officials aze putting in their third rain gazden. <br />"We're trying to eradicate some of the problems that happened in the past and take a look at our water <br />and what we can do on a real grass-roots level to take caze of it," said Cynthia Tomlinson, co-chair of <br />the parks and open space committee in Birchwood Village. <br />Vadnais Heights, Centerville, Mounds View and Fridley all have rain gardens in their city limits. <br />http://wwwstartribune.com/dynamic/story.php?template=print_a&story=5368357 4/26/2005 <br />