Rain Gardens and Ponds

When you make a garden a "rain garden" you can improve local water quality while creating a beautiful natural area that will attract birds and butterflies. Rain gardens allow rain and snowmelt to seep naturally into the ground. This helps recharge our groundwater supply, and prevents a water quality problem called polluted runoff. Rain gardens are an important way to make our cities more attractive places to live while building urban ecological health.A rain garden of any size has a positive impact.
As part of its 2008 capital improvement project, an area city, Sartell is offering residents a chance to have a rain garden installed in the right of way adjacent their property.
They will use native flowers and non-native flowers and shrubs to improve the appearance of the neighborhood a variety of shapes to choose from. The 2008 plan will affect more than 120 households . Storm water generated in those neighborhoods now flows directly into the Watab and Mississippi rivers. The city installed 51 rain gardens in 2007. One could easily work the concept of a rain garden into a waterfall pond area.
All that being said, a couple of really good resources to get information on making your own rain garden are the following Minnesota sites I came across.
Rain Gardens
whole list of resources

Tags: Minnesota Gardens Home Garden rain garden ponds water falls