About This Project
This rain garden project in Uptown Minneapolis showcases how thoughtful landscaping can boost both aesthetics and sustainability. Previously, runoff from the client’s north downspout flowed directly across the front yard and onto the sidewalk. Our solution redirected this runoff into a rain garden featuring a variety of native plants that provide vibrant seasonal blooms and vital pollinator habitat.
To further enhance water control and visual appeal, we constructed a small boulder wall that helps slow excess rainwater and directs it toward a newly created boulevard rain garden along the street. The boulevard works around existing utilities and features shorter native plants for traffic safety, including prairie smoke, aromatic aster, and pearly everlasting.
The main yard’s rain garden features species including meadow blazing star, butterfly weed, purple prairie clover, and showy goldenrod. We worked with the client to phase out the project in two parts, first removing half the lawn and replacing it with these sustainable features, later extending the same improvements to the other side of the front yard. The result is a beautiful, low-maintenance landscape that manages rainwater effectively and enriches the local ecosystem.
Design Elements
