DECATUR - If there is water rather than fairies congregating at the bottom of your yard, it might be time to turn over a new leaf and try a rain garden.

These are basically saucer-like depressions, scooped out of the ground near where drainpipes empty or storm water gathers. Water resources scientist Stacy James told an audience at Rock Springs Nature Center on Sunday that gardeners fill them with moisture-loving plants, add a nice decorative border, and they've got themselves a mini-wetland, holding a lot of benefits.

"The idea is that rain gardens temporarily hold storm water that nourishes the plants that grow in them and also filters the water," added James, 34, who works for the Prairie Rivers Network, a Champaign-based not-for-profit dedicated to keeping Illinois' rivers and streams clean.

"And rain gardens absorb about 30 percent more water than traditional lawns," she said.

As well as cleaning up ponding spots in your yard, rain gardens hold water like a sponge and slowly release it back into the water table, cleaning the water as it goes. That improves the waterways.

It's a much greener option than just allowing rainwater to rush into drains and sewers, laced with contaminants it's picked up in our yards. With a rain garden, there also is less lawn to tend and less grass to fertilize and dose with weed-control chemicals, which all wind up running down driveways and draining into drinking water sources.

"Basically, the more hard surfaces we have in our environment (such as driveways with drains emptying directly onto them), the poorer the quality of the streams we have," James said.

Her small audience, who each took home a free sample of a rain garden plant, showed growing enthusiasm during the hour-long talk. "I think this would be an interesting thing to do," said Decatur resident Leslie Martin, who would also like to mop-up storm water before it pools in her basement.

"We've also heard that rain gardens can bring nature into the yard, and I don't want to have to mow all the time," she said.

Having sowed the seeds of enthusiasm, however, James was leaving on vacation to visit her family in Phoenix, where residents can only dream of the need for a rain garden. "They get seven inches of rain a year," she explained.

Tony Reid can be reached at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.