Rain Gardens

A rain garden uses native plants and landscaping to soak up rain water (stormwater) that flows from downspouts or simply flows over land during a rain event. The center of the rain garden holds several inches of water, allowing the stormwater to slowly seep into the ground instead of flow directly from your roof, yard or driveway into the nearest storm drain, creek or river.

Creating a Rain Garden:

• A rain garden allows 30% more water to seep into the ground than a conventional lawn (south River Federation & Center for Watershed Protection, 2002). This increase helps replenish the groundwater supply (Important during a drought!), and also helps hold back stormwater from contributing to the stormwater and sewage overflows into nearby creeks and rivers.
• A rain garden reduces the amount of water pollution that would otherwise eventually reach the streams and rivers through stormwater runoff. Scientific studies have demonstrated that the first inch of rainfall is responsible for the bulk of the pollutants in stormwater runoff. A rain garden is designed to temporarily hold this one inch of rainfall and slowly filter out many of the common pollutants in the water, such as oil, grease and animal waste, that would otherwise flow into the waterways via the nearest storm drain or stormwater runoff.
• The native plants used in rain gardens require less water and less fertilizer than conventional lawns. They also require less maintenance and provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Instructions for Building a Rain Garden:

Before starting this project, please conduct an Infiltration Test to determine if your soil conditions are adequate for a rain garden.

Materials:

• Plants for the garden
• Hose, rope or string
• Level
• Shovel or spade
• Measuring tape

Optional:

• Humus or other soil amendments
• Downspout extension

Step 1. Size and Locate your Rain Garden:

• First, measure the footprint of your house by getting the area (length x width) of your house and then determine how much of your rooftop area drains to the downspout you are disconnecting to your garden (for gutters with a downspout at each end, assume that half the water goes to each downspout). Refer to the sizing example (below) for guidance. Be sure you measure the house footprint only, but include the area of any driveway or patio areas that will drain to the rain garden (do not take the roof slope into account). The surface area of your rain garden should be between 20% and 30% of the roof area that will drain into the rain garden.

• Locate the garden at least 10 feet away from your house and your neighbor’s house (to prevent water leakage), and create the garden in the lowest point of this section of your lawn, maintaining a minimum 1% slope from the house down to the rain garden. If your yard drain is also located in this section of the lawn, you can build the rain garden around the drain. The bottom of the rain garden would be a few inches lower than the drain and the overflow would actually be in the middle of the rain garden.
• If you are not building around the yard drain, it is imperative that the overflow is safely conveyed to a drain nearby to prevent it from flowing into your neighbor’s property. Make sure the drain is in a suitable location in relation to the rain garden in order to effectively manage the garden’s overflow runoff before it reaches the rain garden.

• When finding the right spot for your rain garden, keep in mind that you will want to create a shallow ditch or swale that carries the stormwater runoff from the disconnected downspout to the rain garden. The swale will help slow the runoff before it reaches the rain garden.
• Finally, lay out the boundary of the garden with a rope.

Step 2. Dig the Rain Garden:

• To enable the rain garden to hold several inches of water during a storm, you’ll have to dig a hole 3 to 4 inches deep across the entire surface of the rain garden. If the soil lacks organic material, you can improve it by digging the hole 5 to 6 inches deep, and adding 2 to 3 inches of humus or other organic material. Make sure the bottom is level, but gently slopes from the bottom to the ground level around the edges. If the drop at the edge is too steep, you might get some erosion around the edges.
• Next, test how the garden will hold water during a storm by letting water flow into the rain garden from a hose placed at the downspout. Based on this test, make any necessary adjustments (e.g., create a berm on the lower side of the garden using the diggings—the soil that was excavated).

Step 3. Add Plants to the Rain Garden:

• Choose native plants that won’t require much watering, but make sure they can withstand wet soils for up to 24 hours. (Refer to the list of native plants below.)
• Also, take into account how much sun your garden receives. It’s often helpful to draw out a planting plan before you start, and mark planting areas within the garden with string. After planting, weeding may be required until the plants become established. You may also need to periodically prune some of the plants to let others grow. In the winter, leave dead or dormant plants standing and cut back in the spring.
• Your garden may need a bit more maintenance than a lawn in the beginning, but in the long run it will be easier to care for and provide many added benefits!