Blaine demonstrates how its rain garden grows
by Tim Hennagir
Life Editor
Blaine residents had a first-hand opportunity to see how a yard low spot can help the environment when they attended a rain garden open house Monday night.
Jim Hafner, Blaine’s stormwater manager, gets ready to replace a grate that covers a basin filter during Monday night’s rain garden open house at 12309 Goodhue St. N.E. The basin feeds a demonstration rain garden that’s located in a corner of Hafner’s front yard.
Jim Hafner, Blaine’s stormwater manager, and Mitch Haustein, a water resource technician with the Anoka Conservation District, answered questions during the July 11 event.
The city’s demonstration rain garden is placed in a spot that’s familiar to Hafner. The garden is located in the front yard at his home at 12309 Goodhue St. N.E.
Hafner said this is the second full summer he’s had a rain garden. He started out with different types of plants rooted in 3-inch pots.
The rain garden in the corner of Hafner’s front yard collects runoff from his driveway and three others in a nearby cul-de-sac.
“There aren’t any storm sewers in this part of town” Hafner said. Prior to installing the rain garden, water would create a big puddle in the middle of the street.
The rain garden quickly captured 1 1/2 inches of rain that had fallen the night before, Hafner said Monday.
Rain gardens are placed in a slight depression and planted with native plants that grow well even if they are temporarily flooded, Hafner explained.
Gardens collect rainwater runoff and allow water to soak into the ground.
At the same time, a unique mix of garden plants provides landscaping beauty and attracts wildlife.
According to Hafner, rain gardens have been seen as a helpful solution to the water quality problem caused by rainwater runoff.
Recent changes in stormwater regulations require runoff to be captured where it falls. Before society started to build roads, buildings, parking lots and other hard surfaces, Hafner said the rainwater would be caught up by trees, plants, grasses and fields, with the excess soaking into the ground.
With careful planning, plants in the garden can attract wildlife and birds.
The typical cost of plants and compost used in a residential rain garden is $600.
If the garden is located near a city street, a curb cut is used to effectively channel the water into the garden. In Blaine, public works completes the curb cut work at no charge, Hafner said.
“That’s part of the agreement the property owner has because this type of rain garden gets put into the existing right of way owned by the city,” Hafner said.
The purpose of Monday’s event was to allow people to actually see a working rain garden in a residential area, he added.
For more information about rain gardens in general, contact Hafner at 763-785-6188 or e-mail jhafner@ci.blaine.mn.us.
Tim Hennagir is at tim.hennagir@ecm-inc.com
