Certifying the Landscape Community in Rain Garden Installation: the North Carolina Experience

摘要

Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater practices are being utilized to a greater extent in new construction to mitigate pollutant loads and hydrologic impacts associated with development. However, many cities are trying to find ways to improve water quality from existing non-LID developments. As a result, retrofit programs are becoming more common. Homeowners are often interested in improving water quality in their neighborhood, and backyard rain gardens are a practice that has become popular in North Carolina. Few homeowners have the technical expertise to size and construct a rain garden; therefore, they often hire a landscaper to complete these tasks. Faculty at N.C. State University and extension agents of N.C. Cooperative Extension have developed a 1.5-day certification course that offers landscapers a detailed understanding of how to properly site, design, install, and maintain a residential rain garden. Attendees listen to six hours of presentations and participate in in-class exercises on rain gardens, and then take a two hour tour of local rain gardens that have previously been installed. On the second day of the workshop, attendees take both an in-class and afield exam. Four workshops were delivered from March to November 2009, with a total of 73 people certified. The certification passing rate is approximately 80%. Some of the certified landscapers are actively advertising their certification. Similar programs could easily translate to other communities throughout the country. Rain gardens help to control runoff at its source, and may make meeting watershed-wide LID hydrology goals easier to obtain.