Early on an unseasonably hot September morning, Minnesota Water Stewards from south Minneapolis were hard at work, weeding a massive rain garden that runs alongside Highway 55. While the steamy weather might’ve suggested otherwise, these seasoned Minnesotans realize that winter is on its way. Before the snow falls, there’s work to be done prepping rain gardens for winter.
Roxanne Stuhr is the mastermind behind this rain garden. A lifelong gardener, she established a garden maintenance company when she was just 17 years old that financed her college education. Six years ago she established her own landscape design company called GreenSpace: True Nature Design, and in 2015 she was certified as a Minnesota Water Steward through the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
All too often stormwater carries litter from the gutter into storm drains, eventually flowing into nearby Lake Hiawatha and the Mississippi River. This rain garden will protect lakes and rivers by filtering water from the warehouse roof into the soil. It gently slopes alongside Reddy Rent’s large warehouse building that fills nearly an entire block near Highway 55 in south Minneapolis. The garden is thriving with Black-Eyed Susans and Echinacea that lean out into the sidewalk and buzz with pollinators.
Though native plants do not need to be pampered, all gardens need upkeep. Take it from Roxanne: “Everything in life requires maintenance, including our gardens.” She recommends that home gardeners weed every other week when establishing a new garden, with extra vigilance during the months of May, June and September.
Even when your garden is established, proper weeding is key. In only three years of neglect, the root systems of weeds and your garden’s desirable plants can become so entangled that they’re impossible to separate.
“It’s a common misconception that when a garden is full of plants no maintenance is needed,” says Roxanne. She recommends home gardeners make use of the University of Minnesota’s Weed Identification site to recognize the weeds in your rain garden.