SCVL Offers Flexible Services for Custom Designed Rain Gardens

Rain gardens, quite simply, are gardens that soak up rain from your roof, driveway, sidewalk or yard. They are slightly different from your typical flower garden. Rain gardens are planted with wild flowers and deep-rooted native vegetation--which helps the ground soak up more water. They are typically placed near downspouts on a home to capture water, so the runoff can gradually soak into the ground.

 SCVL has been designing and installing rain gardens since 2003 and we’ve been a part of their evolution along the way. When you decide you want a rain garden in your yard, we recommend planning carefully. We’ve seen many mistakes in rain gardens-like poor construction, cookie cutter plantings that clash with the overall landscape design, or wild unkempt prairie plantings flopping over from too much fertilizer or shade.  With the wide variety of plants and hardscape materials available we can create a rain garden with a natural look or an organized planting suitable for the most refined settings.

We understand when homeowners’ desire to participate in the process of installing their rain gardens. That’s why we developed our flexible DIY (Do It Yourself ) packages. More|

We create custom designed rain gardens that:

• function properly in managing storm water
• integrate cohesively and seamlessly into the overall Eco-Smart landscaping plan for your property
• reflect your unique personal lifestyle

Let us provide our expertise to help you create a beautiful and cohesive rain garden that fits perfectly into your yard so you can start enjoying the environmental benefits that a rain garden brings to your property today.

 For more information about grants available to homeowners:

Article from Osceola Sun June 2006 Rain Gardens: Landscaping for Our Environment Homeowners in many parts of the country are catching on to rain gardens as one way they can contribute to keeping our waters as clean as possible for future generations. As we see more of our agricultural and forested lands get developed the storm water runoff that typically filtered back into the land is now becoming an environmental challenge. It overburdens storm water treatment systems and sweeps sediment and pollutants such as phosphorous from fertilizers into our streams, rivers and lakes.

Nancy Knutsen, Osceola homeowner living by Lotus Lake had St. Croix Valley Landscaping put in rain gardens when they were planning their landscaping. She says, “We had never heard of rain gardens. We had severe erosion problems before the rain gardens went in and now it is all taken care of for us. They eliminate a lot of work and require very little watering to keep the plants looking nice.”

The look of the rain garden can be tailored to fit the style of your home and landscaping. Many use native plants and how they are designed will determine if the rain garden will have a wild look or more traditional cultivated garden look. Knutsen goes on to say, “we have three different types of rain gardens, one that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds and the others just blend into the rest of the landscaping. We wouldn’t have had this diversity in plants without these rain gardens”.

While an individual rain garden in a yard may seem like a small thing, collectively they provide significant community environmental benefits including:

• Increasing the amount of water that filters into the ground
• Protecting communities from flooding and drainage problems
• Protecting streams and lakes from pollutants carried by storm water
• Enhancing the beauty of yards and neighborhoods
• Providing valuable habitat for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects