A rain garden is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rainwater from a roof, driveway, sidewalk, or street and allows it to soak into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property. Rain gardens can also help filter out pollutants in runoff and provide food and shelter for butterflies, songbirds, and other wildlife. Learn more about why everyone should have a rain garden and how to create one in your own yard.

Kristin Andres is Associate Director for Education for APCC, our region’s leading environmental advocacy non-profit organization. Before joining APCC as a staff member, Kristin worked for the town of Chatham as its first conservation agent for more than 15 years. She serves on several boards and committees, including the Ecological Landscape Alliance, Chatham Friends of Trees, Friends of Chatham Waterways, and the Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod steering committee. She is the regional liaison for Grow Native Massachusetts and an honorary trustee of the Chatham Conservation Foundation. She writes a biweekly column for the Cape Cod Chronicle on natural history topics and co-authored APCC's recent publication, Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes available in the Museum’s Science Shop.

*Book signing will follow program.