Rain Garden Subsidy Program
Did you know an average residential rain garden in Peterborough can divert about 1.5 cubic metres of water from storm sewers each year? That’s roughly 9.5 bathtubs of water! By redirecting runoff toward a rain garden, you can keep the watershed healthy, lower the risk of urban flooding, increase your home’s curb appeal, and create habitat for native plants and wildlife. The more residents who participate, the bigger the impact.
Through the Rain Garden Subsidy Program, the City of Peterborough offers eligible homeowners up to $1000 to offset the cost of designing and installing a rain garden in their front or back yard.
We’ve partnered with the municipality to offer applicants extra support through the application process, including on-site consultation visits and design support.
Don’t live within the City of Peterborough? You can still take advantage of the educational resources offered below.
Videos
Watch our four part video series to learn more about the subsidy program and how to build and maintain your own garden. Note that watching these videos is required in order to receive your subsidy.
Click the Playlist button in the top-right hand corner of the video to access parts two through four – note that watching all four videos is essential in order to receive the subsidy.
Need Inspiration?
Check out these rain gardens installed in the Peterborough region for ideas.
There are lots of colourful native plants in this naturalistic front yard rain garden that receives rain barrel overflow.
Other Resources
SUN Landscaping Guide by GreenUP
Blue Thumb Rain Garden resources
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s Complete Guide to Building and Maintaining a Rain Garden
Ontario Invasive Plant Council’s Grow Me Instead Guide for Southern Ontario (3rd edition)
Michael Albanese, The Modern Rain Garden: Scrape, Shape, and Plant – available for purchase online
Green Communities Canada’s Rain Garden Masterclass
Program History
The Rain Garden Subsidy program was first offered in 2020, in partnership with the City of Peterborough. Prior to that, GreenUP supported the installation of more than a dozen rain gardens in Peterborough through the Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods program (2017-2020), a neighbourhood-scale action and planning program funded from Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Ready for Rain (2016-2017), a program to install rain gardens in the Avenues and Bolivar Street neighbourhood (also funded by Ontario Trillium). We’ve worked with many neighbourhood residents and local partners over the years, including Green Communities Canada, City of Peterborough, Basterfield Landscape Architects, and others, to make our urban watershed healthier.
