Certifying the Landscape Community in Rain Garden Installation: The North Carolina Experience

Abstract

Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater practices are being utilized to a greater extent in new construction to mitigate pollutant loads and hydrologic impacts associated with development. However, many cities are faced with existing non-LID developments, and may be forced, through legislation, to implement stormwater retrofits. Homeowners are often interested in improving water quality in their neighborhood, and backyard rain gardens are one practice that have become popular in North Carolina. Few homeowners have the technical knowledge to size and construct a rain garden; therefore, they often hire a landscaper to complete these tasks. Faculty at N.C. State University and extension agents in the N.C. Cooperative Extension have developed a 1.5 day certification course that offers landscapers a detailed understanding of how to properly site, design, install, and maintain a residential rain garden. Attendees listen to six hours of presentations on rain gardens, and then take a two hour tour of local rain gardens that have previously been installed. On the second day of the workshop, attendees take both an in-class and a field exam. Four workshops have been delivered in the past 9 months, with a total of 73 people certified. Some of these landscapers are actively advertising their certification. Similar programs could easily translate to other communities throughout the country. Rain gardens help to control runoff at its source, and may make meeting watershed-wide LID hydrology goals easier to obtain.