Unlock stunning garden potential while effectively managing stormwater. Learn to design beautiful, functional rain gardens that enhance your landscape and support local ecosystems.
This two‐hour course explores the principles of rain garden design, focusing on functionality, aesthetics, and site‐specific considerations. Topics include proper sizing, water flow management, and shaping techniques to optimize performance. The course also discusses design guidelines, instructions, and plant selection strategies.
This course emphasizes the significance of rain gardens in mitigating erosion and supporting local ecosystems by introducing terminology like rainwater vs. stormwater and exploring the broader environmental impacts on watersheds. It delves into practical aspects such as soil texture analysis, infiltration rate testing, and effective water movement systems, including permeable pavers, infiltration trenches, and innovative downspout management.
Key learning outcomes include:
Whether you're a seasoned landscape professional or an enthusiastic homeowner, this course equips you with the knowledge and confidence to design and install rain gardens that are both environmentally responsible and visually stunning.
Online Courses for Engineers
HalfMoon Education is a nonprofit continuing education provider offering live webinars and on-demand courses for engineers, architects, landscape architects, land surveyors, attorneys, paralegals, accountants and others. Since 1996, we’ve helped thousands of professionals nationwide stay current with industry standards and codes, earn CE hours, and advance their expertise through practical, expert-led learning experiences. Learn more about us at: www.halfmoonseminars.org
Owner of Sean James Consulting and Design
Named by Landscape Ontario as 2020 and 2021’s Garden Communicator of the Year, Mr. James’ hobby and profession has been gardening for over 40 years. A graduate of the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, a Master Gardener and writer, he focuses on eco‐gardening techniques, which makes sense since he grew up surrounded by nature near Crawford Lake in Campbellville. Mr. James has spoken from the Maritimes to Seattle and landscaped from Nova Scotia to California. He has had the honor to be part of creating the Ontario Landscape Tree Planting Guide, the Grow‐Me‐Instead guide, the Ontario Horticultural Apprenticeship Curriculum and the national Red Seal Occupational Standard, and the Master Gardeners Reference Manual. Mr. James has participated in the Environmental Committee for the Perennial Plant Association, and chaired the Environmental Stewardship Committee for Landscape Ontario, moderated the Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook page, and is active on social media with 17,000 followers across several platforms. He’s been a judge for the All‐American Selections garden competition and Hamilton’s Monarch Awards. He has been the Ontario spokesperson for Garden Days Canada. Mr. James has appeared on many radio shows and on television and has instructed at Mohawk College. He owns Sean James Consulting & Design.
This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.
If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.
