Re: Marketing Problems For Rain Gardens

**M* M* <g*@yahoo.com>**

Jeff,

I'm interested where you attended the workshop. In Ann
Arbor, there *is* a kind of You Can Only Do Things One
Way approach by certain groups. Certain groups that I,
at any given time, have been a member of, attended
meetings of, and in general am a supporter of. 

Nonetheless, sometimes, in order to drive home a
point, a group (any group) can, with the best of
intentions, go a titch overboard.

To me, a rain garden is simply something located near
gutters to filter and collect rain and prevent runoff,
and in a larger sense, waterwise planting altogether.
However, some groups now recommend digging way deeper
than I've found necessary and in some ways imply that
this is a task one must hire a landscaper to do. 

Um, no. I have a garden of both natives and
non-natives, most gotten as divisions and swaps or
started from seed. I have two rain barrels (that I
made myself using free 60 gallon barrels from the
water treatment plant and $20 of hardware) that catch
all the water on my roof. They are connected to soaker
houses that deliver the water in areas rain won't
reach. If I didn't have the rain barrels, I would have
created flowerbeds at the spout locations instead
(which did not work on my property for several
reasons). I only water when planting and
transplanting. I never my lawn. I don't use
fertilizers. I compost.

And yet, I have in fact met people who imply my using
anything other than natives is politically incorrect
and that somehow I'm just not "green enough." This is
sad, because I think this type of attitude turns
people OFF not on.

Whenever I teach or present, I do mention the
advantages to natives, and encourage people to try
them. But I would never turn my nose up at anyone for
not using "the proper amount."

Monica Milla
thegardenfaerie.com
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