Show #18/2005. New Plant Ideas

Creating A Rain Garden

THE GUYS NEXT VISIT THE RAIN GARDEN. Their rain garden is located in front of their Education Center. Simply put, the rain garden is an area that captures water from impervious surfaces, like the tops of roofs, driveways, sidewalks, etc., then channels that water, instead of the water going into a storm drain it goes into the garden area. The garden area is depressed about 8 to 12 inches. The cell area needs to be approximately 15% of the area your trying to capture. In the garden they use a good soil mix. If, in excavating, it has heavy clay soil they remove that soil or if it's workable soil they till in 25% organic matter. This ensures good infiltration. It becomes a sponge for the water. They then come in and plant with plants that are appropriate in the wet cell areas.

For the overflow and periods where rain water will go over the 8-12 inch depression they have installed an under drain at the bottom for more drainage. It pulls water out of the cell. This works well for this large area but an average homeowner can use a rain barrel. It can be used to capture rain from the gutters and provides an excellent way to start capturing rain water.

This garden looks mature and lush but it's only 1 year old. They came in, renovated the area, worked the soil, added organic matter and did a good job of gardening. This effort resulted in a beautiful garden one year later.