Native plants help improve watershed health by managing and filtering stormwater runoff and also provide important habitat. At least 20 monarch butterflies crowded around the blazingstar plants (above) during an FMR/Capitol Region Watershed District raingarden tour in St. Paul.

Photo: Karen Solas, www.flickr.com/photos/friendsmissriv

There’s a good deal of information out there on rain barrels, raingardens and other increasingly popular watershed-friendly gardening and landscaping practices. In fact, there are so many resources it can be difficult to wade through them to find what you need, when you need it.

By far, the best way to familiarize yourself with watershed-friendly landscaping and gardening practice is to attend one of our free or reduced-cost workshops. FMR offers classes on native plants, rain barrels, raingardens and other water-wise practices several times a year. As soon as dates are set, classes are posted on our events calendar then noted in our e-mail newsletter, Mississippi Messages (you can sign up by entering your email address in the blue box at right).

Workshop presenters are happy to answer any questions specific to your yard or landscaping situation, and to help you get to the level of detail you are interested in — whether that’s just a quick overview or directing you to more in-depth materials and resources.

If you can’t make one of our workshops, please consider signing up for one offered by:
Bluethumb (offered throughout the seven-county metro region)
Metro Blooms, or Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District

If you're looking for information right away, the following pages on the most popular watershed-friendly landscaping topics can help get you started.
• Rain Barrels
• Cost-Share Programs
• Raingardens
• Native Plant Information
• Composting
• Lawn Care
• Green Roofs
• Stop Rain Drain, redirect your gutters and help the river!