Rain Garden Programs

Two Community Initiatives in Southeastern Pennsylvania

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In collaboration with local Environmental Advisory Councils, Growing Greener Communities has helped to establish and fund two community rain garden programs in the greater Philadelphia area.  These programs have successfully installed more than 100 rain gardens at minimal costs to participants.

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Haverford, PA

In 2014, we forged an initiative to create rain gardens on public, private, and residential properties for water quality improvement and public demonstration with the vision of accelerating the adoption of green stormwater infrastructure. This effort fostered the creation of Hav-A-Rain Garden, a program of the Haverford Township Civic Council.  Hav-A-Rain Garden is coordinated by a team of trained volunteers who assess, design, and install rain gardens in Haverford Township, PA.

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Upper Darby, PA

In the years following, we’ve helped provide training and technical assistance to volunteers from other communities interested in establishing their own rain garden teams. As a result, the community rain garden program expanded into Upper Darby Township in 2020, creating the Upper Darby Rain Garden Team. In addition to rain gardens, this team also offers their services for conservation landscaping projects such as pollinator gardens. Conservation landscaping is a great alternative for properties that don't meet the criteria for a rain garden, or for community members that have specific plant and animal species they wish to support.​