Tours showcase environmental benefits of rain gardens

Shannon Friex installed a rain garden in her Kalispell home three years ago and has never looked back.

“I don’t have to mow, I don’t have to fertilize, I don’t have to do all these things that I would have to do with a regular garden or a patch of grass,” she said.

A rain garden is a bowl-shaped feature in the landscape that can be made by clearing natural areas of grass and mulch and filling with natural plants. Beneficial to homeowners and the environment, the Flathead Basin Commission, says that a rain garden is a low-cost alternative to expensive mulch and wasteful water usage.

In order to showcase the benefits of rain gardens, a walking tour of five gardens is being held on Thursday, July 14. The Flathead Rain Garden Initiative, a collaboration between the basin commission, the City of Kalispell, and the Flathead Conservation District, is hosting the tour designed to introduce folks to the rain gardens and how to install one in their own yard.

In addition to the other benefits, the basin commission points out that a rain garden is designed to absorb rainwater and filter pollutants out of runoff before it reaches groundwater or the storm drain and eventually local lakes and rivers. They also add biodiversity to the landscape, says Emilie Henry, with the basin commission, by using native plants.

“Ornamental flowers and plants offer very limited options for sustenance to pollinators,” Henry said, “so when you introduce native plants to your garden, you are essentially providing a much wider range of habitats and food sources for other wildlife in the area.”

ADDING BIODIVERSITY, is one of the reasons that Friex enjoys her rain garden along with providing a source of pollination for local bees.

“One of the things I think most people will notice here in Kalispell is the lack of bees and butterflies whereas if you look at my garden you’ll notice that I don’t struggle with that,” she says gesturing toward her rain garden where there are a handful of bees circling above a small native plant.

Friex says that she hopes that the tours will offer local homeowners a look into a new world of gardening and landscape management they otherwise wouldn't get the chance to look into.

“I hope other folks are inspired to do this in their yard and it keeps some of the chemicals and fertilizers out of our water system and brings more bees and flowers and pollinators to our communities.”

The Rain Garden Initiative offers a grant program that helps homeowners pay for the installation process. One of the very first recipients of the grant program was Randy Hohf, a teacher at Whitefish High School and runs the school’s Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship.

Hohf says that, although he’s never been a fan of gardening, he has always been passionate about native plants.

“Honestly I’d like to turn my whole garden into native plants,” Hohf says with a chuckle.

He points to a wide bush in the ground next to his house that’s filled with dozens of wild, brightly colored plants. He says that not only has he not had to water his garden once this year, but that the rain garden has also prevented flooding in his basement.

“Last year before I installed the native plants we didn’t get a lot of rain but when we did there would be some water in our basement, but this year after I got the rain garden put in I haven’t seen a drop of water down there,” he said. “Even with all the flooding that’s been going on, not one drop.”

On top of the more obvious benefits of a rain garden, Hohf also points to the durability of the plants themselves, citing a blossoming elderberry bush in the corner of the garden that he says was reduced to “just two brown sticks,” at the beginning of last summer, but has since blossomed.

“The garden is incredible,” he says.

The walking tour of the residential rain gardens begins at the Hockaday Museum, 302 Second Ave E, in Kalispell. The tours begin at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. and include 2.5 miles of walking.

The tours are capped at 25 people, and though free participants must register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rain-garden-walking-tour-tickets-360532872527