The Greener Good - Deb Masters

Published on September 28, 2026

A rain garden place on a curb filled with lots of green and colorful native plantings. A white house is in the background.

The Greener Good is a city sustainability spotlight series, where businesses and residents showcase steps that they have taken towards sustainable solutions in their workplaces and homes.

Deb Masters’ rain garden has grown in size and charm since installation in 2021. Not only is it a sight of natural beauty, but it serves a purpose, too.

The rain garden:

Filters pollutants out of stormwater before it reaches the pond behind her house
Directs water from the street into the garden using a curb-cut
Grow a variety of native plants, sedges, and perennials
Provide habitat for pollinators

Absorbing all the information about rain gardens is hard, until, as Masters said, “your hands are in the dirt.” Ramsey County staff identified the potential in her front yard for a rain garden, and encouraged her to apply for a grant from Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD). She was awarded the grant, and RCWD and Ramsey County worked with the landscaping company, which did the initial work and cut the curb.

A monarch butterfly sits on a white flower. The white flower is among other flowers and native plantings

This support helped Masters get started, and ensured that the rain garden worked specifically for her yard and the pond backing up to her backyard. Rain gardens come in all shapes and sizes and designs can be modified according to how much maintenance they need, although all require more maintenance at the beginning.

Since installation, Masters has enlarged her rain garden twice and continues to add new native plants. Monarch butterflies and bees are just some of the pollinator visitors who stop by the garden, attracted by the bright colors and various flowers in bloom, which are nearly as tall as Masters herself.