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The Muncie Delaware County Stormwater Management Department worked collaboratively with Spence Restoration Nursery to create five different rain garden designs to encourage residents to build their own rain garden based on their own preference. The five designs include Bird and Butterfly, Partial Shade, Purple and Yellow, Pink and White and Pink and Purple. The options presented are based on your personal preference for color of flowers or your rain gardens location in your yard when it comes to sunlight. All rain gardens will encourage and become a new habitat for beneficial birds and butterflys. We have one specific design created for such an interest. Demonstration rain gardens of all five designs can be found at Mc Culloch Park in Muncie near the north entrance of the park off East Centennial Avenue. Pictures of the rain gardens can be viewed on our interactive map of gardens and rain barrels page at the Mc Culloch Park entry. The demonstration rain gardens were paid for by a grant from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
All design recommendations can be found by clicking on Rain Garden Sheets.
Check out our publication, "How Does your Rain Garden Grow?" which can be found on www.thestarpress.com.
Have you considered installing a rain barrel at your house? It's easy and can be very beneficial, especially if you garden. You will also be helping to prevent stormwater pollution by collecting rain water and allowing it to be slowly released on dry days to be sure that our combined sewer systems don't get overwhelmed during heavy rain fall events. Just think, if more people were collecting gallons of rainwater during heavy rain fall events there is less chance for combined sewer overflow which could lead to untreated sewage discharge into our River.
Save money on your water and sewage bill by installing effective... RAIN BARRELS! Build your own rain barrel and for cheap and easy DIY instructions go to http://rainbarrels.info/.
Rain pattern shows rainfall events occur during April, May, and June, just when vegetable gardens and perennial beds are being established. A water-wise approach is to water annuals and perennials with rain barrel water and mulch heavily to retain moisture during dryer months of July and August. Occasional rains in late summer will continue to refill the barrel.
Raising the barrels off the ground by placing them on cement or wooden blocks will ease access to the faucet at bottom of the barrel and provide natural gravity to increase water flow. You can attach a regular garden hose to the faucet to water your lawn and gardens. If heavy rains are predicted, attach an overflow hose and aim it away from the foundation of your home.
Regular use of your rain barrel will prevent mosquito eggs from hatching. The rain barrel may be capped with a fiberglass screen that allows water in, but keeps mosquitos from getting into the barrel to lay their eggs. Also to prevent mosquitos from breeding, add a tablespoon of cooking oil to form a sheen on top of the water.
Download more information on Rain Barrels, Rain Gardens and our CDC grant by clicking on the links below.
Rain Barrel Guide Aquabarrel Rain Barrel Rain Garden Brochure Rain Garden Sheets
Google Map of Residential Rain Gardens
Motivate Our Mind's Project Layout
Whitely Rain Garden's Aerials and Plants
Whitely Community Rain Gardens Map
CDC Grant Article in Stormwater Magazine
Muncie's City Hall Switches to Xeriscape
CDC Project Water Quality Raw Data
To receive detailed information on how to install a Rain Garden or Rain Barrels, call the Muncie Delaware County Stormwater Management Office at 747-2660.
