Rain Garden Incentive Program

Have standing water in your yard after it rains? Try a rain garden!

Rain gardens capture and hold water through the use of native plants planted in carefully placed shallow depressions. Along with drying up your yard, rain gardens add visual interest, help manage stormwater in our sewers, lessen flooding, improve water quality, reduce potentially polluted runoff, and provide food and habitats for local wildlife. A properly-designed rain garden can filter one inch of rainfall in four hours, greatly reducing runoff.

In order to encourage residents to install rain gardens, the Village of Park Forest has created the Residential Rain Garden Incentive Program. Through the program, residents are eligible for a rebate half of the cost of the plants and compost used to build the garden, up to $500.

How to apply: You can apply for the Rain Garden Incentive by either filling out an application online or by printing the Rain Garden Incentive Program Funding Application and mailing or delivering it to the Sustainability Office at 226 Forest Blvd., Park Forest.

Rain Garden FAQs:

Want to know how to build a rain garden, what plants to use, or how to keep a rain garden healthy and happy? Check out this brochure from the Prairie Rivers Network to learn all about rain gardens in Illinois.

What kinds of plants are good for a rain garden?

Plants must be able to tolerate both dry and extremely wet conditions. We strongly encourage the use of native plants. For a list of plants that work for rain gardens in Illinois, click here.