The Red Oak Rain Garden Team Presents: Mulch Madness
Attached is information about the 2022 Mulch Madness competition.
Attached is information about the 2022 Mulch Madness competition.
Attached is the Red Oak Rain Garden e-newsletter for January-February 2022:
The ICECF Final Report and related documents can be found attached:
Each month, the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) Team produces an e-newsletter to keep supporters updated on everything that is happening in the garden. In the October 2021 e-newsletter, the team highlighted RORG's seasonal plants to keep an eye out for, social media highlights, volunteer opportunities, and more!
To read their October 2021 newsletter, please see the attached file below.
A link to the September Red Oak Rain Garden e-newsletter is provided below.
The following information is from an email Elaina Brown sent to inform the Red Oak Rain Garden "neighbors" about the upcoming changes to the Red Oak Rain Garden. The full email is attached below.
-------------------------------------------------------
There will be some prep work near the garden and Dorner Drive Retention Pond. Vegetation will be treated to remove invasive/non-native species to make way for high-quality native plants.
Starting Sep 13 volunteers will install more than a thousand plants west of the garden. Additionally, F&S Grounds will treat the pond's banks to prepare for prairie/woodland restoration but leave some areas as mowed grass for students to relax and gather in the future as they do now. Finally, at the end of the month, Country Arbors will plant new trees in the area between the garden and McKinley's parking lot.
In time, these new landscapes will provide pollinator habitat, water quality benefits, and serve as a model for future restorations on campus and throughout the state. You can expect that by spring 2022, your experience of walking through this part of campus will be even better than it is now!
Layne Knoche, Red Oak Rain Garden’s designer, worked with F&S Campus Landscape Architect Brent Lewis on the attached plans (see the attached images below).
-------------------------------------------------------
A link to the August Red Oak Rain Garden e-newsletter is provided below.
The Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) was established in 2006. The current renovation is to improve both aesthetics and functionality. The RORG Team, led by Eliana Brown, Water Quality Specialist with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Illinois Extension, is managing the design and build of the project, which just completed phases I and II as of October 2019. Read our blog for the latest construction updates.
Back in 2006, Prof. Tony Endress' Restoration Ecology classes designed and installed the rain garden with assistance from Facilities & Services and the City of Urbana and in cooperation with Housing Services. For additional visual interest, art student Jennifer Astwood designed the “Prairie Fire” sculpures under the guidance of Prof. Alex Fekete.
The Red Oak Rain Garden is a BLUE Illinois Faculty/StudentProject funded by Facilities & Services in conjunction with the Environmental Council, with additional funding support from University Housing.
The Red Oak Rain Garden is a public rain garden that soaks up rainwater, enhances the campus and community aesthetic and educational experience, and promotes well-being for everyone who visits.
As the first rain garden on campus, this garden is beautiful and smart. It addresses flooding in an innovative way – by planting an attractive landscape feature that captures and filters stormwater.
Located between Allen Hall and McKinley Health Center, RORG provides flood protection, improves water quality, and serves as a model for ecologically healthy landscapes. Prior to the garden, rainstorms limited sidewalk use and impaired the red oak. The updated design enhances the garden’s ability to absorb rainwater in a beautiful, educational way. The garden plants, which are native to Illinois, have extensive root systems that are excellent at soaking up water and improving its quality.
On July 12, 2021, Adam Dolezal, May Berenbaum, Layne Knoche, Eliana Brown, Morgan White, and Avery Maloto met over Zoom to discuss pollinator efforts on campus. The conversation included topics such as: Bloom Calendar, Red Oak Rain Garden, Dorner Drive Retention Pond, Setting up a BioBlitz, and more.
See the attached file to view the minute notes.
Ryan Welch, Morgan White, and Shantanu Pai visited the Red Oak Rain Garden to review location placement for the new outdoor trash and recycling bin. The bin will be placed along the north-south sidewalk parallel to Dorner Drive, near the crosswalk.
The 350 square-foot pollinator garden at the National Soybean Research Center is planted! The weather was beautiful and we had a fun time hearing plant stories and learning about our very own native species from Layne Knoche. Check out our Facebook post here.
Huge thank you to Layne Knoche, Eliana Brown, and the whole Red Oak Rain Garden team, Eric Green, Michael Dzianott and the Red Bison team, Joey Kreiling, Blake Cedergren, and the From the Ground Up team, and all friends who helped out with the planting.
Stay tuned for more fun!
Each month, the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) Team produces an e-newsletter to keep supporters updated on everything that is happening in the garden. In the May 2021 e-newsletter, the team highlighted RORG's guided tours, partnerships for grants, blooming species for the month, and more!
To read their May 2021 newsletter, please see the attached file below.
Each month, the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) Team produces an e-newsletter to keep supporters updated on everything that is happening in the garden. In the April 2021 e-newsletter, the team highlighted RORG's hosted workshops & presentations, partnerships for grants, social media highlights, and more!
To read their April 2021 newsletter, please see the attached file below.
Sad that Mulch Madness is over? You can still watch (most of) those amazing plants 'play' this year in the garden using my 2020 Bloom Calendar as a guide! The champion Virginia Bluebells, which weren't installed until last fall, are in full bloom NOW!
Check out the Red Oak Rain Garden Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/RainGardenUIUC
Mulch Madness is a fun way to learn more about native plants found at the Red Oak Rain Garden. To enter, send completed brackets to redoakraingarden@gmail.com by 11 am Tue, Mar 16. Games begin that same day at noon on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Brackets, rules, and more details are at the link above. The winning bracket receives a $20 gift certificate to the local business of their choice.
Eliana Brown • University of Illinois Extension/Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
This opportunity is available online
Each month, the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) Team produces an e-newsletter to keep supporters updated on everything that is happening in the garden. In the March 2021 e-newsletter, the team highlighted RORG's participation in podcasts, partnerships for grants, volunteer opportunities, and more!
To read their March 2021 newsletter, please see the attached file below.
Please see attached December 2020 progress report for the Red Oak Rain Garden.
Please see attached November 2020 progress report for the Red Oak Rain Garden.