“Creating Your Raingarden” Workshops
Two “Creating Your Raingarden” Blue Thumb Workshops are planned for this spring in Scott County. Raingardens are designed to catch rainwater runoff from your roof, driveway, walkways, parking lot and lawn. They provide beautiful and colorful accents while attracting wildlife and pollinators. Unlike a typical vegetable or flower garden, a raingarden is intended to improve water quality of nearby creeks, streams, lakes and rivers. They include deep-rooted native to Minnesota plants that tolerate being partially flooded on occasion. And the best part is there is little maintenance after you dig, mulch and plant your raingarden. Other than simple weeding and watering, raingardens don’t require a lot of attention, but add life and variety to your landscape.

There is a $10 fee per person. The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, April 19 6:30 to 8 p.m. Spring Lake Town Hall, Prior Lake
OR
Saturday, April 23 10 to 11:30 a.m. Scott County Fairgrounds, Jordan
* By attending one of the workshops above, you may be eligible to receive up to $250 in funding assistance for plants, compost and labor if you install a raingarden.
Sponsors include Blue Thumb/Metro Blooms, Scott Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Scott Watershed Management Organization (WMO), Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District, Lower Minnesota River Watershed District, Vermillion River Watershed, City of Prior Lake and City of Savage.

“Restoring Your Shoreline” Workshop
If you are seeing more and more of your shoreline disappear each year, an opportunity to learn how to protect and restore this area with seeded or planted buffers between lawn and lake is being offered this spring. There is a $10 fee per person. The “Restoring Your Shoreline” workshop is slated for:
Thursday, April 7 6:30 to 8 p.m. Spring Lake Town Hall, Prior Lake
Sponsors include Scott Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Scott Watershed Management Organization (WMO), Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District, Lower Minnesota River Watershed District, Vermillion River Watershed and the City of Prior Lake.

You can register for any of these workshops below or by calling the Scott SWCD office in Jordan, (952) 492-5425. You can mail your payment to Scott SWCD, 7151 190 St W, Suite 125, Jordan MN 55352, to secure your spot in these workshops, which fill up quickly.