GreenScapes

EPA New England

A call to action to citizens, business and communities around New England to help soak up the rain and reduce polluted runoff flowing to our lakes, rivers and coastlines

Low Impact Development (LID)
By implementing LID principles and practices, water can be managed in a way that reduces the impact of built areas and promotes the natural movement of water within an ecosystem or watershed. Find a wide range of resources on Best Management Practices, by-laws and ordinances, funding, case studies and success stories.

Composting
Find fact sheets, reports, case studies, links to the EPA national composting web site, and others for information about innovative uses of compost.

Pesticides in Your Garden, March, 2003 (PDF) (8 pp, 542K)
Tips about pesticides and alternatives

Residential Green Building Guide: A Web Source Book for New England (PDF) (80 pp, 477K)
Information and resources on ecological landscaping practices

EPA National

GreenScapes
Techniques and resources for homeowners, large-scale landscapers, and commercial and government land managers. Includes fact sheets, tools such as cost calculators, and informational brochures:

Green Infrastructure
Includes cost effective and environmentally friendly approaches and techniques to reduce stormwater and other excess flows entering combined or separate sewer systems, using natural systems such as Green Roofs, Urban Forestry (Trees and Tree Boxes), Rain Gardens, and Grassed Swales to cleanse water and to reduce excess volumes by filtering and treating it using plants, soils and microbes.

Green Roofs
Includes information on mitigating urban heat islands using Green Roofs, Trees and Vegetation.

Green Landscaping Resources, Green Landscaping with Native Plants
Fact sheets, slideshows, and publications on natural landscaping with native plants.

WaterSense
Includes information and resources on WaterSense labeled products, water conservation and calculator, and information on how businesses and organizations can partner with the WaterSense program.

Water-Efficient Landscaping: Preventing Pollution and Using Resources Wisely, U.S EPA (PDF) (19 pp, 1.6MB)

Stormwater Best Management Practices - National Menu of Stormwater Best Management Practices
GreenScaping design strategies for meeting Phase II Stormwater requirements for Post-Construction Stormwater Management in new development and redevelopment. Includes fact sheets on Compost Blankets, Compost Filter Berms, and Compost Filter Socks.

Nonpoint Source Outreach Toolbox
Web-based resources to assist communities with watershed education and outreach activities. Includes a searchable catalog of print, radio, and TV ads and outreach materials and resources on lawn and garden care.

Nonpoint Source Pollution

Low Impact Development (LID)
A portal to EPA and non-EPA resources and publications

General

This page provides links to non-EPA web sites. You will leave the EPA.gov domain and enter another page with more information. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of information on that non-EPA page. Providing links to a non-EPA Web site is not an endorsement of the other site or the information it contains by EPA or any of its employees. Also, be aware that the privacy protection provided on the EPA.gov domain (see Privacy and Security Notice) may not be available at the external link.

Greenscapes Massachusetts
A collaborative education and outreach effort. Find resources, techniques, and special offers for sustainable landscaping, including the Greenscapes Guide and email newsletter.

The Massachusetts Low Impact Development Toolkit, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Includes fact sheets on Low Impact Site Design, roadways and parking areas, permeable paving, bioretention, vegetated swales, filter strips, infiltration trenches and dry wells, cisterns and rain barrels, and green roofs.

Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit, Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA)
Low Impact Development concepts, model bylaw, case studies, power point shows, brochure, and links

A Homeowners Guide to Environmentally Sound Lawncare: Maintaining a Healthy Lawn the IPM Way, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources - Pesticide Bureau, 1997, Reprinted 2007 (PDF) (26 pp, 1.5MB)

Garden and Landscaping Water Conservation Tips, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA)

The Low Impact Development Center
A non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of Low Impact Development technology through research, training, planning, sustainable infrastructure design, and ordinance development. Find resources, news & events, publications, and projects, including:

• Green Highways & Green Infrastructure
• Urban Design Tools, Low Impact Development
• Rain Garden Design Templates that display a series of rain garden, or bioretention, design templates that can be used by landscape architects, landscape contractors, and garden clubs.

Center for Watershed Protection
Resources include watershed planning, watershed restoration, stormwater management, better site design, installation of rain gardens, green roofs, and vegetative swales, and education and outreach.

New England Cooperative Extension Programs:
Find resources on ecological landscaping, gardening, soil testing, turf management, pesticide use and native plants. Refer also to Rain Gardens section below.

• University of Connecticut: Home and Garden Education Center Cooperative Extension System
• University of Maine: Horticulture and Gardening
• University of Massachusetts: Agriculture and Landscape Program
• University of New Hampshire
  • Related Publications
    • Landscaping at the Water's Edge: An Ecological Approach
      Explains how landscaping choices affect ground water and demonstrates how to protect and improve water resources with ecologically-based design, and low-impact maintenance practices.
    • Integrated Landscaping: Following Nature's Lead
      This new way of thinking treats each site as a system of plant and animal communities, considering their interrelationships to each other and their environment.
    • The Best Plants for NH Gardens and Landscapes uses the concept of habitat gardening to help gardeners and landscapers choose and care for plants in our unique New Hampshire environment.
• University of Rhode Island: Landscape Horticulture and Technology for Sustainable Agriculture
• University of Vermont: Yard and Gardening

New England NEMO (Non-Point Education for Municipal Officials) programs
NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) provides information, tools/resources, education and assistance to local land use boards and commissions on how to accommodate growth while protecting natural resources and community character. Refer also to Rain Gardens section below.

• Connecticut NEMO (Non-Point Education for Municipal Officials)
  University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension-Don't miss…
• Maine NEMO Program
  Operates under the auspices of the Partnership for Environment Technology Education (PETE). Maine Resources Guide to Land Use Planning
• New Hampshire - UNHSC-NEMO: Innovative Stormwater Management Inventory
• New Hampshire - Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC)
• Rhode Island NEMO program
  Includes resources and publications on Sustainable Landscaping.
• Vermont NEMO Program

New England Wildflower Society
Promotes conservation of North American native plants through education, research, horticulture, habitat preservation, and advocacy.

Sustainable Landscaping, American Society of Landscape Architects
View a range of case studies including the use of Low Impact Development techniques.

Ecological Landscaping Association (ELA)
ELA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for environmentally responsible stewardship of land and natural resources in the landscaping and horticultural practices of professionals and the public.

Organic Land Care: Lawns, Gardens & Landscapes, Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA)
Contains educational resources on organic land care practices for homeowners and landscape professionals.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
A not-for profit industry association working to promote the design and installation of green roofs throughout North America.

Rain Gardens

Rain garden resources are available from many different programs and organizations around New England and beyond.

Video of Rain Garden Installation by Groundwork Providence, Manton Heights Residences, Olyneyville neigborhood, Providence, Rhode Island.
On March 31 - April 1, and April 6, 2011 Groundwork Providence trainees, local landscapers, and city/state employees took part in a rain garden training and installations conducted at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and Manton Heights Residences, in Providence, RI. The training was a partnership with the City of Providence, Groundwork Providence, Rhode Island Landscape and Nursery Assoc.(RINLA), Rutgers University, University of Connecticut Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO), and University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension.

This Manton Heights installation, in addition to a rain garden installation at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, was part of the training.

Rain Gardens in Connecticut: A Design Guide for Homeowners, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System
A colorful 12-page brochure introduces rain gardens and discusses how to place, size, and install a rain garden.

Rain Garden Webinar, University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)
An overview of the functions and features of rain gardens. Learn how to size, locate, and install and select plans for a rain garden. While the focus is on residential scale rain gardens, bioretention systems are briefly discussed.

Adding a Rain Garden to Your Landscape, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Introduces rain gardens and how they remove pollutants from runoff, includes instructions and plans on how to plan, design, install and maintain your rain garden. Includes a video.

Building a Rain Garden Fact Sheet, Mass Riverways Program, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (PDF) (2 pp, 271K)

Rain Gardens, New England Wildflower Society
How to install a rain garden and lists of native plants for use in the various sections of a garden.

Homeowners Guide to Stormwater Management, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (PDF) (66 pp, 15.3MB)
Guide provides fact sheets with step-by-step instructions to install do-it-yourself stormwater treatment practices, such as rain gardens and dry wells, to help protect nearby streams and ponds from stormwater pollution, and help reduce flooding, create wildlife habitat, recharge groundwater, and conserve water resources.

Rain Gardens, HealthyLandscapes, University of Rhode Island

Rain Garden Information Center, Rutgers, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
Fact sheets, manuals, presentations, and other resources for homeowners and others.

The Vermont Rain Garden Manual: "Gardening to Absorb the Storm", University of Vermont (PDF) (20 pp, 2.2MB)
Vermont-specific resource designed to clarify the installation process, demonstrate how rain gardens are cost-effective stormwater management tools, and illustrate how they can be incorporated into a variety of landscapes.

Rain Gardens, Smart Water Ways, Chittendon County, Vermont
Includes plant lists and step-by-step instructions.

Calculating your Roof Runoff, Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District, Vermont

10,000 Rain Gardens
A Kansas City metropolitan area initiative to educate citizens about what they can do to improve water quality and manage stormwater on personal and community property. Includes information on rain gardens, rain banks, and other green solutions for managing stormwater.

Rain Gardens: A How to Manual for Homeowners, University of Wisconsin (PDF) (32 pp, 3MB)

Burnsville Rainwater Gardens
A project to fit gardens into a residential neighborhood in Burnsville, Minnesota.