How to Create a Rain Garden

One of the hottest trends in gardening today is the Rain Garden. Easy to create, are beautiful year-round, have a positive impact on the environment and require close to no maintenance.

A rain garden is a special type of garden is specially designed to collect rain water runoff from roofs, driveways, sidewalks and other water resistant surfaces. The area you designate for your rain garden is filled with native grasses and wild flowers that are specially chosen for their ability to absorb and filter runoff.

Studies have shown that as much as 70% of the pollution in streams, rivers and lakes has been carried there by rain runoff. By collecting this runoff in a rain gardens, the plants naturally filter out pollutants such as fertilizer, oil and other chemicals, reduce peak storm water flows and reduce stream back erosion.

Rain gardens filter and recycle our most precious resource, and these little gems have an extremely positive impact on our environment. Rain gardens also provide food and shelter for wildlife, attracting all kinds of birds, bees and butterflies.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shovel
• Native Plants
• Drain Pipe
• Ornamental Garden Accessories of Choice

1. Rain Garden Design: Location
   
   Everyone has that spot in their yard that collects water after a heavy rain or turns into a mud-hole right after a storm. If this site is at least 10 fee from the house, this low spot is the ideal location for your rain garden.
   
   Preferably the area choose for the rain garden design will get full sun, but at a minimum should receive at least a half day of full sunlight. There should be a natural slope (at least 1% grade) leading from the water collection area (the roof or driveway) down to the rain garden.

2. Rain Garden Design: Soil Testing
   
   Prior to the installation of the rain garden it is important to test the soil. Dig a 6-inch hole and fill it with water. If there is water standing after 24 hours the soil isn’t permeable enough.

3. Rain Garden Installation: Depth
   
   Remove the existing grass if any and dig a shallow depression about 6-inches deep.
   
   It is important to keep the rain garden only about 6-inches deep. The water collected here will usually be absorbed within a one- to seven-day period. This is important, because mosquitoes require seven to 10 days to lay and hatch their eggs. By keeping your garden from holding water for this incubation period, this will avoid mosquito problems.

4. Rain Garden Installation: Slope and Berm
   
   Slope the sides gradually from the outside edge to the deepest area.
   Use the soil that you remove to build up a slightly raised area on the three downslope sides of the garden. This berm will help contain the water runoff and allow it to percolate slowly through the rain garden.

5. Directing Rain Water
   
   Divert the rain water from the roof or other collection area by directing the downspouts toward the rain garden. This can be done either by a natural slope, by digging a shallow trough, or by piping the runoff directly to the garden through a buried 4" diameter plastic drain pipe.

6. Choosing Rain Garden Plants
   
   Native plants withstand difficult growing conditions and require very little maintenance. These plants are the best choice for rain gardens.
   
   Choose groups of three to seven native plants, be sure to consider height, bloom time and color. Clusters of the same variety of plants will look better than a patchwork of singles. Be sure to mix native ornamental grasses, ferns and sedges in with your native rain garden plants, perennial wild flowers and shrubs to ensure the garden has a strong root mass that will resist erosion and inhibit weed growth.
   
   Certain trees, such as the red maple, weeping willow and river birch also do well along the sides of rain gardens and are aesthetically pleasing.

7. Rain Garden Maintenance
   
   New plants should be watered every other day for the first two weeks or so, once they are established, the garden should thrive without additional watering.
   
   Rain garden maintenance is extremely low after the first summer of growth, only minimal weeding will be needed and these types of gardens rarely need fertilizers.

Tips & Warnings

• To keep digging minimal, choose a relatively level spot for the garden.
• Go one step further and add a water garden to this area for fish and amphibians. Just make one part of the rain garden deeper, perhaps as much as 18 inches in the deepest spot. Then add a plastic or a man made pool that can be purchased at the local home improvement store.
• If the area doesn’t drain well when testing, add well draining soil to avoid creating a mosquito bed instead of a rain garden.
• It is important to add a small water feature to any water garden to prohibit algae growth and mosquito breeding.

Resources

• Garden.com Eco-Friendly Products
• Mastergardening.com
• Mantis Garden Products
• Windowbox.com- Naturally Eco-Friendly!
• Rain Garden and Pond Supplies

[poetryman69]

on 11/23/2009 nice title. interesting article on a rain garden

[lilolladystuff]

on 11/21/2009 Lovely and practical idea. Nice article, well explained. Thank you.

[lilolladystuff]

on 11/21/2009 Lovely and practical idea. Nice article, well explained. Thank you.

[jaredsgirl]

on 11/20/2009 What a super article on creating a rain garden. I absolutely love your beautiful garden picture too! Thanks for sharing. 5*

[ccard123]

on 11/18/2009 Creating a rain garden a great, environmentally responsible way to landscape. Thanks for the great article! 5*