Rain gardens guide the rain away from storm drains while attracting wildlife and protecting streams, lakes, and ponds. These gardens store rain for a few hours, allowing gradual infiltration. The plants and soils also filter pollutants and remove nutrients to improve water quality.

Tree filter systems are another solution that integrate street trees with stormwater collection. These systems are unique in that they integrate above-ground vegetation with subsurface bio-remediation principals to treat and cleanse stormwater pollutants prior to infiltration to groundwater and aquifers.

Join tour guides Ed Himlin from the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition and stormwater engineer, Paul Iorio to learn more about Leominster’s stormwater solutions that combine aesthetic form and ecological function. The program will take place Tuesday, August 18, from 9 – 11 in Leominster, Massachusetts, beginning at the Leominster Library on 30 West Street, and is sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance. ELA members $22, nonmembers $32. Register online at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/guiding-the-rain-aesthetic-form-ecological-function/