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Master and novice gardeners garnished hands on experience during St. Clair County Soil & Water Conservation District and Alabama Cooperative Extension Service’s (ACES) “Rain Garden Workshop.”

Seeking ways to diminish pollutants and reduce rain runoff these organizations teamed up to plant a rain garden in Odenville Town Park.

“We’re real excited about this project,” said Sarah Butterworth, Middle Coosa Watershed Project Coordinator for Etowah and St. Clair Counties.

The interest for the rain garden project sparked after the groups hosted a well-attended rain barrel workshop.

“We wanted to take this to another level,” said Butterworth.

Receiving help from Odenville Utilities who surveyed the site and brought over a backhoe to dig an eight-inch deep hole, the Odenville Town Park rain garden was well underway.

Layering the rain garden with soil and compost, they tilled then planted native plants such as wax myrtle.

“That’s the kind of plants you want. Native plants are disease resistant and tolerate our soils” said Danielle “Dani” Carroll, Regional Extension Agent II for ACES’s Etowah County office.

However, Dani says not all native plants are the same.

“Dogwoods and azaleas would not make it in a rain garden,” she said.

Striving to create a low maintenance rain garden, Butterworth said they needed a good-looking garden that didn’t have to be maintained every day.

“We wanted to keep it simple, cost effective and allow the rain garden to translate into someone’s home landscape,” Butterworth said.

Looking forward to watching their rain garden grow Butterworth along with the organizations thank the town of Odenville.

“The city and mayor have been really great to work with.”

For further information on programs through ACES log onto www.aces.edu.