Registration Open for 2020 Master RAIN Gardener 5-Week Courses

Carolyn Hufford took the 2019 Master Rain Gardener class and built her rain garden in Lakewood.

Chagrin River Watershed Partners (CRWP), Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District (Cuyahoga SWCD), and Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District (Lake SWCD) are offering four 5-week Master RAIN Gardener courses in 2020 that will teach participants how to design, install, and maintain residential rain gardens. Rain gardens are bowl shaped gardens filled with plants that like it a little wet. They are designed to receive water runoff from surfaces like roofs, driveways, or lawns. They work with nature to collect, filter, and soak up this rain.

This course is open to all residents and landscape professionals in Northeast Ohio and can be taken in-person or online. Each of the 5-week courses offer a two-track option, where participants can sign up for the residential certification or professional certification track. Registration for the online and in-person courses is open now.

• Winter Online Course: Recorded online content beginning February 3 with a final in-person class on Saturday, March 21. The mandatory field day for professional track participants will be held on Saturday, May 2. For more information about this course and to register, visit: www.crwp.org


• Early Summer In-Person Course: Wednesdays from 9:30am-2:00pm beginning on May 20 and running through June 17 at the Mayfield Village Community Room, with one course (June 3) held at the North Chagrin Nature Center in Willoughby. For more information about this course and to register, visit: www.cuyahogaswcd.org/events/2020/05/20/master-rain-gardener-program


• Summer Online Course #2: Recorded online content beginning July 17 with a final in-person class on Saturday, August 22. The mandatory field day for professional track participants will be held on Saturday, September 12. For more information about this course and to register, visit: www.cuyahogaswcd.org/events/2020/07/17/master-rain-gardener-online-program


• Late Summer In-Person Course: Thursdays from 10:00am-2:00pm beginning on July 30 and running through August 27, held at the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland. The mandatory field day for professional track participants will be held on Saturday, September 12. For more information about this course and to register, visit: www.crwp.org


Both the in-person courses and online courses will include optional field trips to residential rain gardens, public rain gardens, and native plant nurseries.

The fees for registration for the online course are $50 for the residential certification track and $75 for the professional certification track, and the fees for the in-person course are $75 for the residential certification track and $100 for the professional certification track. Scholarships are available.

The 2020 Master Rain Gardener program is funded in part by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and Dominion Energy Watershed Mini Grant Program, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and the Lake Stormwater Management Department.

For more information, contact:

Laura Bonnell, Project Manager, Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc. (440) 975-2870 ext. 1002; lbonnell@crwp.org
Elizabeth Hiser, Euclid Creek Watershed Program Manager, Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District; (216)-524-6580 ext. 1002; ehiser@cuyahogaswcd.org
Natalie Gertz-Young, Education/Information Coordinator, Lake Soil & Water Conservation District; (440) 350-2033; ngertz-young@lakecountyohio.gov

Elizabeth Hiser

Euclid Creek Watershed Program Manager working out of Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District office.

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Volume 12, Issue 2, Posted 5:31 PM, 02.05.2020