The Rain Garden Ripple Effect

Saturday, August 5th 10:15 am to 1:00 pm

Livonia Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile Rd, Livonia, MI 48154

We are currently at capacity for our lunch and afternoon sessions. If you would like to attend the morning presentation, be waitlisted for the other sessions, or have any questions, please email Jaclyn at jheikkila@therouge.org or call 734-927-4906.

See our flier for the event below! Check out and share the Facebook event here:

Generously Funded By

Hosted by the Livonia Department of Public Works

About the Event

This event is put on by Friends of the Rouge in partnership with the University of Michigan. Come be a part of the movement to help support pollinators, capture rain to help keep our rivers clean and combat climate change with rain gardens! Be the first neighbor on your block to bring rain gardens to your community, it’s only a matter of time until more follow your lead. We will have two sessions throughout the day; This event is free and open to the public, everyone is welcome.

(10:15 AM) Morning Session – The Rain Garden Ripple: Learn in depth about what a rain garden is and why you should add one to your yard in any community. This informational session on residential rain garden has no limit of attendees, so bring your friends, family and neighbors!

Lunch will be provided between sessions; please RSVP. During lunch, we will facilitate a discussion around designing a residential rain garden.

(12:00 PM) Afternoon Session – Community Connections: We want your input about rain garden benefits, barriers and solutions to help build support for rain gardens in your community. We will break out into smaller groups and facilitate discussion and get valuable feedback that will help University of Michigan researches and shape the future of residential rain gardens in the region. Limit of 60 attendees due to space.

Have questions or need accessibility accommodations?  Please email Jackie at jheikkila@therouge.org

About the Presenters

Cyndi Ross

Friends of the Rouge Restoration Manager

Cyndi has engaged thousands of watershed residents in learning about and installing rain gardens designed to soak in and slow the flow of rain water to the Rouge River.

Runzi Wang

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Michigan

Runzi studies neighborhood-scale green infrastructure design and regional-scale water quality management. 

Jianxing Guan

Phd student of Landscape Architecture, University of Michigan

Jianxing studies the hydrological performance of green infrastructure from social and economic perspectives.