Rain Gardens to the Rescue

Restoration and Rain Gardens 2026 Program Update

Thanks to generous supporters like you, Friends of the Rouge continues to expand the reach and impact of restoring the Rouge River watershed with Rain Gardens. As we shared in last year’s report, your support in 2025 helped power 12 new rain gardens, 4 native plant gardens, and more than 10,000 native plants across the watershed — every one of these installations representing a home protected, a street beautified, and a community strengthened.

Building on that momentum, our team spent the winter and early spring preparing for an even more impactful 2026 season.

Winter & Spring 2026: Planning, Education, and Community Engagement

Program Planning for the 2026 Season

Throughout the winter months, staff and partners focused on planning for our spring and summer installations, volunteer days, and community workshops. This preparation ensures that each garden is thoughtfully designed, communitysupported, and ready to thrive.

Garden Maintenance & Stewardship

Caring for past installations is a continued commitment to our mission. This spring, we scheduled multiple maintenance days to tend to rain gardens planted in previous years — including several in Dearborn’s Southend, where residents continue to face disproportionate flooding and pollution. These stewardship days help ensure long-term performance, beauty, and community pride.

 Expanding Community Education

Education remains at the heart of Rain Gardens to the Rescue. This winter and early spring, we reached hundreds of residents across the Rouge River watershed through:

- 2 Rain Garden 101 workshops 

- 2 Master Rain Gardener 5-part Training courses

These sessions introduced new audiences to the purpose, function, and design of rain gardens — echoing last year’s hands-on learning approach where participants learned how rain gardens work, how to design their own, and how to care for them long-term.

 2026 Installations: New Rain Gardens on the Way

We are excited to share that four new rain gardens are currently in development for 2026:

- 1 rain garden in Highland Park 

- 10 rain gardens in Detroit (4 residential)

- 7-8 rain gardens in Dearborn (3-4 residential)

Each site was selected in partnership with residents and community organizations, prioritizing areas with chronic flooding, limited green space, or high stormwater runoff. As with previous years, these gardens will be installed with volunteer support and planted with native species that provide habitat, beauty, and stormwater benefits.

Community Celebration: Hamtramck Tree Planting Block Party

This spring, we hosted a successful tree planting block party in Hamtramck, bringing neighbors together to plant trees, learn about stormwater solutions, and celebrate community-led environmental action. Events like this strengthen local stewardship and build the relationships that make long-term watershed restoration possible.

Looking Ahead

As heavy rainstorms become more frequent, the need for green infrastructure continues to grow. Your support ensures that more families can protect their homes, more pollinators can find habitat, and more neighborhoods can flourish with native plants and cleaner water — just as it did in 2025, when your contributions supported 57,064 gallons of stormwater storage per storm and thousands of new native plants.

With your continued partnership, Rain Gardens to the Rescue will keep expanding its reach, deepening community engagement, and transforming the Rouge River watershed one garden at a time.