Rain Gardens to the Rescue

Last year was a productive year for Rain Gardens to the Rescue!  Friends of the Rouge, with help from project partners and volunteers from the community, created over 9,600 sq. ft. of new gardens designed to manage rainwater and improve water quality and wildlife habitat in the Rouge and Detroit Rivers.  These amazing gardens prevent ~500,000 gallons of rainwater runoff from entering the combined sewer system annually.

What this means to the Rouge and Detroit Rivers is a cleaner, safer place for fish and other life to thrive. It means less sewage overflows, less pollution, and less sediment.  It means enjoyable recreation close to home for millions of people in Southeast Michigan. It means less pollution in Lake Erie. 

What this means to the community is less incidents of basement backups and damage to precious treasures and major household appliances (furnaces, hot water heaters, washers and dryers) that are critical to the health and well-being of families. 

What this means for the sites receiving these rain gardens is space for childhood play and exploration, outdoor weddings and event space, a place for spiritual reflection and meditation, a place to connect with nature.  Sites receiving rain gardens in 2024 include:

• Saunders Memorial Church, Detroit
• Grace In Action, Detroit
• Transform Communities, River Rouge
• Allegria Retirement Village, Dearborn
• Geer Park Elementary School, Dearborn
• Oakman Elementary School, Dearborn
• Lowrey Middle School, Dearborn
• Salina Intermediate School, Dearborn
• North Toledo Block Club Park, Detroit
• 6 residential properties in Detroit, Dearborn, and Redford Twp.

What this means for the bees, birds and butterflies is food, shelter and a place to simply survive.  Last year the Monarch butterfly was added to the list of Threatened and Endangered Species.  If more people incorporate rain gardens and native flowers, trees, grasses and shrubs into their home and commercial landscapes, the trend of species decline may be reversed. For the Monarch butterfly a simple addition of milkweed plants can make all the difference.  There are several types of milkweeds that are critical for the survival of Monarchs, these include common milkweed (Asclepias syiraca), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) and more.   Common milkweed has an amazingly fragrant flower.  It will spread and should be used where this is acceptable. Swamp milkweed is great for rain gardens and does not spread like the common milkweed.  Butterfly weed has vibrant orange flowers in June and is a fabulous addition to any landscape. 

Join us in 2025 to continue this work in community across the region. Your support is appreciated and directly helps to protect and restore the Rouge River in Southeast Michigan. 

Links:

• See what else we're up to

In the 2024 growing season, Friends of the Rouge, in partnership with community leaders and volunteers, created 13 new rain gardens that work to improve water quality and provide beautiful space for wildlife to thrive and people to enjoy.  Six (6) larger scale rain gardens were installed with the following entities:

• Allegria Village Retirement Home in Dearborn
• Geer Park Elementary School in Dearborn
• Lowrey Middle School in Dearborn
• Oakman Elementary School in Dearborn
• Salina Intermediate School in Dearborn
• Transform Communities in River Rouge

Rain gardens at these public facing sites allow for a large number of students and residents to learn about the value these special gardens provide to their community.  They also do a great job with preventing a large amount of rainwater from flowing into the sewer system – and in these communities – that means less water in overburdened pipes, where wastewater from homes and businesses mixes with rainwater from streets and parking lots as it travels to the wastewater treatment plant.  During times of heavy rain there’s more water than the pipes can carry and the slurry of polluted water is released into the Rouge and Detroit Rivers and backs up into residential basements.  This is harmful for the health and wellbeing of thousands of households.  Rain gardens are a low-cost, nature-based solution that helps to alleviate these backups by keeping rainwater out of the system.    

Seven (7) residential rain gardens were created at homes in Dearborn, Detroit, Redford and River Rouge following successful completion of the five-part Rain Gardens to the Rescue training course where they learned all about rain gardens, native plants, garden design and maintenance.  During the course, held in June and August 2024, homeowners worked to design their own gardens with advice from experts.  They also recruited neighbors, friends and family to help with their garden installations (Aug. – Oct.), which helps to inspire others to create rain gardens of their own.

These amazing gardens would not be possible without funding provided by generous donors, like you.  Your contributions, along with grant funding, supports healthy rivers and healthy communities.    

With increasingly frequent, heavy rainstorms, your support is more critical than ever to help our communities stay healthy by managing stormwater. Thank you for your continued support of Rain Gardens to the Rescue!

Links:

• http://www.therouge.org

• Sharing_natures_beauty_through_touch_smell_and_sound___University_of_MichiganDearborn.pdf (PDF)