MASTER GARDENING: Rain Gardens
Saturday, April 02, 2011
With the weather being a reminder of the spring reality (and gift) of rain, get some planning in to take best advantage. Build yourself a rain garden this spring. Here, from the Master Gardeners at URI, is the inside scoop.
What is a rain garden?
Increasingly popular in home landcape, a rain garden is a natural or dug shallow depression designed to capture and soak up stormwater runoff from your roof or other impervious areas, like driveways and walkways, around your home.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhy make one? Isn’t every garden a rain garden?
No. Designed specially, a rain garden can be used as a buffer to shoreline areas to capture runoff from the home landscape before it enters a lake, pond, or river. And it’s planted with suitable trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants, allowing runoff to soak into the ground and protect water quality.
Further, a rain garden will allow the runoff generated on your property to infiltrate into the ground and help reduce potential water quality problems. While your individual rain garden may seem like a small contribution, collectively, rain gardens can produce water quality benefits.
Finally, they provide habitat for wildlife and, with the proper plants, increase the number and diversity of birds and butterflies for those who enjoy watching them, provide an attractive and creative alternative to traditional lawn landscapes, require less maintenance than lawns because they do not need to be mowed, fertilized, or watered once established, and increase property values and creative landscaping designs.
Getting started
There are different ways to design and size a rain garden, and URI has a bunch of details on its Healthy Landscapes Web site.
Start with these guidelines:
- The rain garden should be at least ten feet from the house so infiltrating water doesn’t seep into the foundation.
- Do not place the rain garden directly over a septic system or near wells and underground utilities.
- It is better to build the rain garden in full or partial sun, not directly under a big tree.
- It may be tempting to put the rain garden in a part of the yard where water already ponds. Don’t! The goal of the rain garden is to encourage infiltration, and your yard’s wet patches show where infiltration is slow.
- Water should only pool in your rain garden for several hours after rainfall before it is absorbed. This is important for your plants as well as for mosquito concerns.
Choose the right plants
It is best to use native, non-invasive species that are resistant to the stress from brief periods of pooling as well as dry periods between rainfall events. A variety of plants with large root structures will make your rain garden more effective and less susceptible to disease. It is also better to use plants with a developed root structure instead of starting plants from seed. Seeds will have a hard time establishing in the conditions of a rain garden and will also leave the soil exposed and prone to erosion. There is a list of suggested plants on the Healthy Landscapes website.
Costs
The cost of a rain garden can vary greatly. If you do all of the labor yourself, the cost will depend on the number and types of plants you choose, as well as any additional materials you may have to purchase, such as mulch, crushed stone, roof gutter downspout extensions, or tools for digging. If you hire a landscaper or someone else to install the rain garden the cost will be more and will be a function of the size and depth of the rain garden as well as the plants you use.
Maintenance
While the plants in your rain garden are young and becoming established they may require some supplemental water during dry periods, though this should only be the case for the first year. Some weeding may also be necessary the first year until the plants fill out and can compete with weeds.
Once the rain garden has become established, maintenance is minimal and will generally only include periodic mulching, pruning and thinning, and plant replacement. Be sure to inspect your rain garden periodically during and/or immediately after rainfall events to be sure the rain garden is working as designed.
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