Rain gardens are a type of "green infrastructure". They help reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff caused by landscape development. When landscapes are developed, the quantity of runoff increases due to impervious surfaces like roofs and pavement, while the quality of runoff is degraded from chemical and thermal pollution. Rain gardens intercept this unnaturally high volume of polluted runoff, providing flood storage and encouraging infiltration into the soils. Simultaneously, the amount of pollution is reduced due to nutrient uptake by plants and soil filtration. Rain gardens installed, and maintained by Habitat Landscape are protecting lakes and streams throughout Northern Michigan. Below you will see one such rain garden we designed and installed at  a property on Walloon Lake.