Learn how to make and install a rain barrel at a workshop at 9 a.m. Saturday, August 6, at the Historic St. Mary’s City Visitor Center, off Rosecroft Road. Rain is a naturally soft water and devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals. For this reason, plants respond very well to it. The hands-on workshop, taught by Jackie Takacs of the Maryland Sea Grant, is one of several classes sponsored through the year by the St. Mary’s Arboretum Association, and will also tell you the many practical uses of rain barrels and how they reduce runoff. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. For information, contact jutakacs(at)smcm.edu.

Click here to register... http://www.smcm.edu/arboretum/_assets/pdf/arboretumrainbarrelflyer.pdf

:lol: too late! Put mine in a couple weeks ago....

Love to go but I gotta work...

Be cautious! With rain barrels come wonderful breeding grounds for the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes....just sayin'

No kidding, but a quick shot of WD-40 on the surface of the water keeps them pesky buggers at bay!

No kidding, but a quick shot of WD-40 on the surface of the water keeps them pesky buggers at bay!

If your going to use this for watering the vegetables you might want to think about using vegetable oil instead, works just as well without poisoning anyone.

I only use this for watering flowers and stuff, no veggies, so I got some mosquito dunks and put a piece of one in, plus a small shot of algaecide. The aglae is supposed to be beneficial for the plants, but too much will clog the spigot and start to smell.