News & Events
Find out the latest news about raingardens and our campaign to reach 10,000 in Melbourne.
Select a story on this page:
- Special offer for Kingston residents
- Winning Raingardens
- Halfway to our 10,000 raingardens target!
- Raingardens take over Melbourne’s tram and bus shelters
- Jane Edmanson is our new 10,000 Raingardens ambassador
- Free raingarden plaque or certificate
- Turning rain into food – veggie raingardens
Special offer for Kingston residents
Kingston resident? Have your raingarden built for you
Please contact our project partners South East Water for a free quote to have your very own raingarden built for you.
You could save up to 50% on the typical cost of a raingarden and take advantage of South East Water’s reliable installation service. With the option to pay through your South East Water bill, you could also opt for 12 or 24 months’ interest free.
For more information, a free raingarden quote, or to express your interest in any of the above offers, please call South East Water on 1300 760 306 or visit their website Install a raingarden – South East Water
Have you seen the display raingardens at Aspendale?
Want to see a raingarden first-hand before taking the plunge? Visit Aspendale Gardens Community Centre, where four different types of raingarden have been built to promote the benefits of raingardens for our environment:
Aspendale Gardens Community Centre
103–105 Kearney Drive
Aspendale Gardens
VIC 3195
So get on board and let’s reach 10,000 raingardens!
Winning Raingardens
Congratulations to the winners of Melbourne Water’s Raingardens competition, each picking up a $1000 Bunnings voucher.
- Dick Ford (Beaumaris) incorporates fish into this raingarden to make his garden more sustainable.
- Mick Fidler (Cheltenham) created a downpipe diversion raingarden.
- Louise Scanlon (Brunswick) diverted stormwater from the roof into a pond which is now attracting local frogs.
- Eltham High – Year 10 and 11 (Eltham) students completed this infiltration raingarden as part of their geography studies.
- Pam and Helmut Niesner (Doncaster) filled in their unused pool to create a raingarden and attract local wildlife.
Well done to everyone who got involved and registered, we saw some exciting and very creative raingarden examples.
If you still haven’t registered your raingarden, help us reach 10,000 by registering here.
Halfway to our 10,000 raingardens target!
In mid 2012, we reached an important milestone towards our 10,000 raingardens target. With more than 5,000 raingardens now registered across Melbourne, we are halfway there!
To celebrate, we hosted a morning tea at Melbourne University’s Burnley campus. Jane Edmanson, our campaign ambassador and 3AW Gardening Australia presenter, was there to acknowledge and thank key campaign supporters including:
- Victorian Plumbing Industry Commission
- Master Plumbers
- Sustainable Gardening Australia
- local councils
- members of the community
We announced the winners of our annual raingarden awards, which recognise the valuable contribution local councils are making to improve the health of our rivers and creeks by incorporating raingardens into the urban landscape. The City of Port Phillip, Moonee Valley, Hobsons Bay and City of Kingston councils all took home an award.
The event also showcased the vegetable raingardens project, which looks at how raingardens can be used to safely grow vegetables. Professor Tim Fletcher gave a comprehensive presentation covering everything you need to know about growing vegetables in raingardens. You can read more about this exciting project in the ‘Turning rain into food’ story on this page.
Guests also had the opportunity to take a tour of a green roofs project, demonstrating the most suitable plants for our local environment. Melbourne University is committed to installing green roofs and walls on campus buildings as part of its effort to establish Burnley as a research and demonstration centre for green infrastructure. Visit the University of Melbourne website for more details:
Raingardens take over Melbourne’s tram and bus shelters
In order to create interest in raingardens, and to demonstrate how simple it is to build one, we’ve constructed a series of them on bus and tram shelters, inside metrolite panels. The display shows how stormwater runoff is collected on the roof, then is channelled down into the raingarden. The raingarden acts as a natural filter, to catch any impurities, before running into our local waterways. Under the line, “If we can build a raingarden here, you can build one at home” the 3D raingardens show the layers and the construction required to make your own. Check out the photos here.
We’ve also got a great new simple animation for the public to download, via QR codes at the sites, or via this website. You can view it here.
Jane Edmanson is our 10,000 Raingardens ambassador
Jane Edmanson has officially joined our campaign to reach 10,000 raingardens across Melbourne. The popular presenter from 3AW and ABC’s Gardening Australia is working with us to promote and spread the good news about raingardens.
See Jane talking about Raingardens at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden show in this YouTube clip.
Free raingarden plaque or certificate
Plaque Certificate
Have you built a raingarden? Register it online and you can choose to receive either a beautifully-designed certificate or a stainless steel garden plaque.
The attractive garden signs are made specifically for outdoor use and are a great way to show that you are doing your bit to help the environment.
Turning rain into food – veggie raingardens
We will soon know if it’s possible to grow vegetables in a raingarden, if they would be safe to eat and how well they grow, thanks to a new research project funded by Melbourne Water.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne and Monash University have planted normal vegetable gardens and veggie raingardens. The team is growing tomato, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, basil and parsley, aiming for a wide variety so they can compare how the different types grow.
The research project also aims to find out if vegetable raingardens are as effective at treating urban stormwater as conventional raingardens.
Why researching veggie raingardens is important
Fruit and vegetables often need lots of water or fertiliser to thrive, so up to now they have been considered less suitable for raingardens than native species. Indigenous plants tend to be more drought-tolerant and easier to maintain than introduced species.
The results
The research team will be testing the raingardens throughout 2012 – we look forward to publishing the results.
You can find out more in the meantime by visiting the University of Melbourne website.
Turning rain into food - Water for Liveability