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At Oakvillegreen we believe a community armed with knowledge is a resilient community, prepared to face the current climate crisis and fight to protect our environment.
This DIY Rain Garden Workshop Series will take you step by step through the whole process of installing a rain garden. By the end of the course you will have the confidence to install your own rain garden and also advocate for other rain gardens to be installed in your neighborhood.
This is a blended course consisting of an online component and a practical component. This current course is running from November 2022 until May 2023.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
This introductory module introduces you to the problem of stormwater runoff and what a rain garden is exactly. We then move on to talking about where to put a rain garden on your property, how to do a 'Tour de Downspout' and look for POO (problems, obstacles and opportunities)
GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH YOUR SOIL
In this module we introduce the importance of knowing your soil in order to make sure your rain garden fuctions correctly. We discuss different tests your can conduct to discover more about your soil's composition, filtration rates and pH. We also start talking about plants, giving you lots of good options for your own rain garden.
PLANNING
In this module we will learn how to calculate the size and depth of your rain garden. We will also be talking about the various ways you can get the water to your rain garden, as well as what factors to consider in relation to pipe outlets and overflows.
DESIGN
In this module, we explore principles of design, inlcuding colour, shape, and purpose of our rain gardens. We explore different species for our rain gardens, and look at local case studies that showcase how to problem solve in different environments
This course has been made possible thanks to a grant provided by Province Ontario, through the Great Lakes Local Action Fund.
