PROGRAMS
Rainscaping Education Program
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ABOUT THE COURSE
Rainscaping is a combination of sustainable landscape design and management practices that prevents polluted runoff from reaching water bodies — directing stormwater to be absorbed by plants and soils.
The Rainscaping Education Program, in collaboration with Purdue Extension, the University of Illinois Extension, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, provides training and resources on rainscaping practices that can be installed in a residential setting or small-scale public spaces project.
The program provides advanced training in rain garden planning, installation, and maintenance for:
- Purdue Extension Master Gardeners
- Conservation agencies and organizations
- Stormwater professionals
- Landscape companies and consultants
Participants are encouraged to attend as a community team to support implementation of public education programs and provide technical assistance to homeowners upon completion of the training. The two day workshop sessions cover an introduction to rainscaping and rain gardens with specific modules for rain garden site selection, plant selection and garden design, installation, maintenance and community engagement.
Our program consists of five modules (three hours each) in a workshop setting. Program modules include:
- Flipped classroom instruction
- Online learning opportunities
- Experiential training activities
- Field techniques
- Field trips to community examples of rainscaping projects
Workshops include hands-on activities, interactive discussions, and field trips to community rainscaping projects. Participants also gain experience through creation of a demonstration rain garden with community partners in a public space.
View the Rainscaping Education Program website to learn more.
Complete this form to receive information about future Rainscaping workshops hosted by Purdue Extension.
If you need additional information or have questions, please contact a member of the program team.
Program Impact
To date, the team has engaged 886 participants in education and train-the-trainer programs. The cumulative volume of stormwater captured by demonstration rain gardens installed by the Rainscaping Education program is 1,395,076 gallons per year.
The calculated Net Promoter Score for participants consistently ranges from 86-100 (on a scale from -100 to +100) and is considered a world-class rating.
Participants share significant takeaways to apply Rainscaping practices, including:
- Careful site selection and good planning are essential to a successful rain garden. Stewardship is all part of good planning!
- This was recommended to me by a coworker; I will let her know it was helpful and that she should continue to recommend programs like this.
- Very comprehensive, covered so much useful info in a relatively short period of time.
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