If you’re starting to make spring garden plans, explore these excellent, earth-friendly landscape features. They’ll enhance your curb appeal, garden maintenance routine and water quality – and you could get reimbursed for installed them at your home.

Native plants

Native flora bring myriad benefits to your landscape and your gardening schedule. You can find native trees, flowers, grasses and shrubs in just about any shape, size and color.

Love watching wildlife? They provide food and shelter for bees, butterflies and songbirds.

Looking for low-maintenance landscape options? Native plants are naturally adapted to the climate and soil of our area. They’re ready to thrive in your yard without extra fertilizers, watering and maintenance.

Have erosion issues? The deep root system of native plants far outstretches other varieties, holding soil in place, filtering out pollutants and absorbing water.

Explore lists of recommended plants

Rain barrels or cisterns

Enjoy a consistent supply of clean, fresh water for hydrating your garden with a rain barrel or cistern. These containers are easy to install and collect the rainwater that would normally pour off your roof or through your gutter downspouts. Rain barrels provide about 55 gallons of water, and there are many attractive options available. Cisterns are a more utilitarian option that can hold several hundreds of gallons of water above or below ground.

More about rain barrels

Permeable pavers

Create a surface by spacing pavers apart just enough to allow water to seep between them into a crushed rock base below. Pavers are a terrific option for patios and walkways. Make a striking pattern out of pavers for a patio, or craft a natural-looking path with uniquely shaped stones that blends into your landscape.

See a few examples

Rain gardens

These thoughtfully designed gardens combine all the advantages of native plants with additional runoff-controlling benefits. A rain garden is a shallow depression — about six to eight inches deep — that is planted with diverse native wetland and prairie vegetation. When placed in the right location, they collect the rain runoff from your property and pull the water into the soil. 

Find sample garden plans and instructions

The best part? All of these upgrades are eligible for up to a 75% rebate through the City of Lenexa’s Stormwater Cost Share Program. This annual grant program promotes gardening practices that improve water quality. Funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.