Learn to build a rain garden or nature pond at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center March 18, 2009

Houston receives more than 48 inches of rain each year--unfortunately, it tends to come down in buckets one month only to disappear the next. From cracked earth and wilted landscapes to floodwaters, come to the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center to learn how to add resilient seasonal color to your yard AND help reduce or eliminate Houston's next flood event. Rain gardens and small nature ponds are water features that not only attract wildlife, including birds, but are beneficial to people too.

The Saturday portion of the class will involve the actual construction of a rain garden at the Arboretum.
This class will be taught by Arboretum Conservation Director Joe Blanton, who received a B.S. in Microbiology from UT-Austin and a M.S. in Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. Blanton has completed training programs in interpretive environmental science, sustainable land design and wildlife habitat restoration from the National Association for Interpretation, The Permaculture Institute, National Wildlife Federation and the Texas Master Naturalist Program.

Date: March 18, 7 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, March 21, 8 a.m. to noon
Cost: $60 for members, $75 for non-members. Includes materials and a guidebook for your project.

For more information, call 713-366-0421 or visit www.houstonarboretum.org. For more information about fun events and classes around Houston, visit www.ltbaehr.com.

Official Website: http://www.houstonarboretum.org