For Immediate Release
September 8, 2020
Contact: Michelle Peal (908) 313-4178
South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program to Host Webinars on How to Build a Rain Garden: September 17th and 22nd
Princeton, NJ - The South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program will host a new Webinar for homeowners on September 17th and September 22nd from 5:30-6:30 pm to demonstrate how to build a rain garden! After the Webinar, participants will have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute consultation to work one-one one with a Rutgers landscape architect to plan a customized rain garden. Applicants who build a rain garden may be eligible for a rebate of $3/square foot up to $450, or help from Rutgers with installation.
Led by a coalition of eight environmental non-profits, the South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program works with homeowners, farmers, and municipalities to design and install rain gardens and other green infrastructure projects that will help prevent polluted stormwater from reaching our waterways. Through the program eligible homeowners can receive a free rain garden design and up to a $450 rebate. To date, approximately $7,000 has been provided in rebates. The projects have helped prevent 30 million gallons of polluted stormwater from entering waterways that drain into the Delaware River.
“This is a great way for homeowners to beautify their yards while helping the environment. Plus, it makes for a great social-distancing project,” said Isabella Castiglioni, Outreach Manager, Pinelands Preservation Alliance & Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions.
Paul and Ann Patterson are homeowners in Medford who participated in the South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program and recommend it for others. “Take advantage of this program to help benefit your immediate ecosystem and to connect yourself with your land. Water is a crucial element and a source of life, so learn as much as you can about it,” said Paul Patterson.
The program also works with the agricultural community to install green stormwater infrastructure projects on farms, vineyards, and garden centers throughout the region. Practices that include grassed waterways, manure storage facilities, and gutters on barns and buildings to remove contaminants from stormwater while keeping clean water clean.
These landscaping projects used in combination with other practices, including reducing tillage, using a cover crop, or a crop planted between harvests of commodity crops, and installing native plants along waterways and field borders help improve the sustainability of a farm and protect water resources.
“A rain garden is a beautiful, no-brainer landscape design that you will learn from and connect with for years to come,” added Ann Patterson.
In addition to benefiting homeowners and businesses, the program provided the towns of Evesham, Tabernacle, Hammonton, and Millville technical and financial support to install green infrastructure. For more information about the South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program visit the website at https://www.sjwatersavers.org/makeover/.
Reserve Your Space at a Webinar
September 17th 5:30pm-6:30pm https://pinelandsalliance.salsalabs.org/sept17webinar
September 22nd 5:30pm-6:30pm https://pinelandsalliance.salsalabs.org/sept22webinar
Comprised of Pinelands Preservation Alliance, American Littoral Society, Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, New Jersey Audubon, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Rutgers-New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station, and South Jersey Land and Water Trust, the South Jersey Landscape Makeover Program is a unique program that provides homeowners, municipalities, and farmers with expert advice and financial assistance to create rain gardens and other “green infrastructure” projects that capture polluted stormwater and prevent it from entering our lakes, rivers, and bays that drain into the Delaware River.