Red Oak Rain Garden

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Urbana, IL
Red Oak Rain Garden

Stormwater management demonstration at the University of Illinois. Managed by University of Illinois Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant staff. 🌱💧

The Red Oak Rain Garden is managed by University of Illinois Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant staff. It is a demonstration landscape that soaks up rainwater, enhances the campus and community aesthetic and educational experience, and promotes well-being for everyone who visits. Originally constructed in 2006 by Prof. Tony Endress and his NRES 420 class, a 2019 garden renovation honored thi

s original effort and gives it a future. The new planting palette has earned recognition from several conservation organizations. As part of Illinois Extension, the Red Oak Rain Garden Team believes in providing excellence in educational programming and providing accessible programs that help people solve problems. The rain garden does both! The Team creates service-learning opportunities for students and community volunteers and inspires visitors to find out how they can create healthier landscapes where they live. The Team sees the Red Oak Rain Garden as an opportunity for growth, not just for the plants, but also for our community. We seek collaborators from a variety of organizations and University departments to bring an array of talents. Care for the garden is provided in partnership by Champaign County Master Gardeners and East Central Illinois Master Naturalists in coordination with Facilities & Services.

06/05/2026

What is missing here? 👀

Our ceramic mosaic tiles have been removed as the RORG team prepares for Facilities & Services to refresh the crushed granite border surrounding the garden. This feature, designed to disperse incoming stormwater and catch sediment and w**d seeds that flow with it, was installed during the 2019 renovation. That’s seven years of hard work! Over the coming weeks, F&S will install fresh rock and the borders will look good as new.

After this work is done, the tiles will be added back in. Look for some new arrivals, made by Catherine Wiesener’s ARTS 291 class this past semester!

05/16/2026

Congrats to our Class of 2026 Graduate, Clare Smith! Clare has been a wonderful addition to our team for the past few years, taking some of our most beautiful photos and coordinating our merch and tabling initiatives. We're thrilled to welcome her back this fall when she kicks off her graduate studies at the Illinois School of Architecture!

05/12/2026

RORG has been part of an amazing collaboration this past year with Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the University of Illinois and Illinois State Water Survey! A series of soil moisture probes now relay data to help demonstrate how stormwater moves through rain gardens.

Read more about it in our guest blog by CEE student, Cam Kimber: https://redoakraingarden.org/2026/05/11/collecting-data-growing-insight-monitoring-rain-garden-performance-at-rorg/

And congrats to Cam for graduating this week!! 🌧️🎉

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant University of Illinois Extension Facilities & Services University of Illinois College of ACES

05/07/2026

Happy Reading Day! RORG (and our very studious volunteers) wish you luck on all your finals!📚👩‍🎓

05/05/2026

Do YOU 🫵 want a set of our educational greeting cards or a RORG sticker? We know you do! Check out our Linktree in our bio to purchase some RORG merchandise to help support the rain garden 🌱✨

04/29/2026

April showers bring… April flowers! 🌧️🌸

This rainy spring put on a stunning early-season display in the rain garden, featuring Virginia Bluebells, ‘Prinses Irene’ Tulips, Woodland Phlox, Celandine Poppy, Bloodroot, Jacob’s Ladder, and Shooting Star.

Beyond their beauty, these blooms provide sustenance for emerging pollinators.

There are many blooms still to come this spring, so stop by to see for yourself!

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant University of Illinois Extension Facilities & Services University of Illinois College of ACES

04/28/2026

RORG took yesterday's storms in stride, and was glowing today with wet foliage and a small amount of water in the basin. Before you know it, within 48 hours, the water will soak into the ground. We hope everyone was able to stay safe and dry yesterday!

04/24/2026

Earlier this month, my team celebrated Mom's Weekend by giving tours of the rain garden, selling exclusive merch, and hosting visitors of all kinds. Thanks to all who stopped by and saw the height of our tulips and Virginia bluebell blooms!

If you missed out on buying a set of our spring ephemeral educational greeting cards, you're in luck! Just click on our Linktree in bio and purchase them yourself! It will be pick up orders only at RORG on 5/8, 9-11AM.

Did you visit us during Mom's Weekend? Let us know what you thought in the comments!

04/09/2026

Congrats to our 2026 Rain Garden Rumble Winner, Erin Metz!🥳 Erin is pictured here with her beautiful pollinator pocket garden.

Thank you to everyone who submitted brackets and voted in the games - see you all next year!

Address

1005 W Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL
61801

Website

https://linktr.ee/redoakraingarden

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