Rain Barrel Workshop

Discover the benefits and logistics of having a rain barrel at your home. Members of the River des Peres Watershed Coalition will conduct a brief introductory discussion on placement, construction, and other considerations followed by a hands-on session where participants will make their own barrel to take home!

Cost for class is cost per barrel constructed: $45 Garden Member/$55 Non-member.

Instructor: Kim Petzing

Contact: riverdesperes@thegreencenter.org

Dates:

• - Thursday 4/8/2010 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
  The Green Center, 8025 Blackberry Avenue - University City
• - Saturday 5/8/2010 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am
  Earthways Center, 3617 Grandel Square - St. Louis

Rain Barrels for Sale

It has been months in the works, but the River des Peres Watershed Coalition is now selling rain barrels. After attempting several designs, we are satisfied in the quality of the barrels we can build. We offer our thanks to the Coca Cola Company for their generosity - their food-grade barrels are the foundation of our rain barrels.

Download our order form (.pdf 145kb), informational package (.pdf 238kb), or our installation guide (.pdf, 1.7Mb).

Habitat Restoration Underway

If you haven't been to Mona Terrace or Deer Creek Park in a while, you may want to plan a trip over there. Both sites are in the midst of a habitat overhaul.

On March 28 and April 4 in 2009, volunteers gathered at Mona Terrace. Special thanks go to NHS members at Cor Jesu, SLU students, and River Kids who put in so much effort to remove the regrowth of bush honeysuckle along a 150-foot segment of the River des Peres and to plant over 700 native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plugs.

On April 18 and April 25, Deer Creek at Deer Creek Park got a bit of a face lift. A group of 25 volunteers from Washington University took on the patch of Japanese knotweed, pulled honeysuckle and Japanese hops, and planted 350 herbaceous plugs on the 18th. Employees from Coca Cola and Wal-Mart joined a Master Naturalist and students from Rohan Woods school to take on re-sprouts of knotweed and to put in another 350 plants.