Rain Garden Brochure

1. Rain
What is a Rain Garden? Where can I build a
Rain Garden?
Rain gardens are
Gardens
beautiful natural
looking gardens Rain gardens can be planted just
that capture about anywhere, but the best place
www.co.lake.il.us storm water run for one is in a natural depression (a
off and allow it to low lying area where water flows
slowly seep into the ground. By naturally) in a fairly flat part of your
capturing runoff, rain yard.
a simple guide to gardens decrease
erosion, help recharge It is best to place your garden next to
beautifying your home underground aquifers, an impervious
protect near by lakes surface such
and improving water and streams from as a driveway,
harmful pollutants and patio, or
quality sediment, and can
www.artandlindas
wildflowers.com sidewalk so it
lower the risk of local can catch run
flooding. off. Rain news.minnesota.publicradio.org
gardens can
also be placed near roof downspouts.
Rain gardens are large basins that
collect and hold water that runs off Rain gardens should be planted at
impervious (hard) surfaces like your least 10 feet from houses and
roof or driveway. The porous nature foundations to prevent flooding and
of the rain garden soil allows the slopes greater than 12% are
water to infiltrate into the ground. inappropriate for these gardens. Rain
While the plants, mulch and soil, in the gardens should also not be planted
garden trap pollutants and sediment. on top of septic tank drain fields or
Alabama Cooperative where water pools in your yard. These
The water will infiltrate in 1-2 days, areas have low infiltrations and can
Extension System
which will promote flooding and overwhelm
www.aces.edu/waterquality/mg.htm decrease your septic tank.
flooding and
prevent mosquito
development.
www.aces.edu

2. 3. Use a rope to lay out the boundary 7. Choose plants and plant your rain
How do I build a rain of your garden with the longest side garden. This is the fun part. Let your
garden? facing the source of water imagination go. You can choose a
color theme or
4. Once the garden is laid out you choose plants
can start digging (bring friends). The that will attract
1. Locate an appropriate site for your depth of your garden will depend on butterflies and
garden. the slope of your landscape. For a hummingbirds.
rough guide: www.co.monroe.in.us
2. Determine the size and shape of • slope less than 4% - 3-5 in deep We suggest
your garden • slope between 5-7 % - 6-7 in deep using native plants, which are not only
• slope between 8-12% - 8 in deep
beautiful, but are tolerant to our
• Rain gardens can be any size or
The bottom of your garden should be weather and pests. A list of native
shape, but to be effective they should
be sized to accommodate the water as level as possible. The dirt removed plants is available at our website:
from the drainage area. from the
garden www.aces.edu/waterquality/mg.htm
• To calculate the size of the rain
garden, get a rough estimate of the can be
square footage (length x width) of the used to You can even use
drainage area (roof, sidewalk, lawn, create a your runoff as a
or driveway). berm or
www.uri.edu water feature.
• Consider your soil types. If you have
barrier on
clayey soils your rain garden should the downhill side of the garden to Ask your local
be 60% of the drainage area, if your keep water in the garden. landscape
soil is sandy you should have 20% of specialist for more
the area. The less sandy your soil, the www.artandlindaswildflowers.com
5. If you have poor soil (really sandy or great ideas.
larger your garden needs to be.
really clayey) you may want to add
Ex. You would like to build a garden to organic matter or sand to your 8. Add 3in of hardwood mulch to your
catch the run off from your roof. If the garden. Good rain garden soil will be garden.
spout you choose drains ¼ of your 2000 sq 50-60% sand, 20-30% topsoil and 20-
ft roof and your soil is sandy. So 2000/4=
500 X 0.2= 100 sq ft. You will need a
30% compost. The clay content You may need to periodically water and
garden 100 sq ft in area. should not be more than 10%. mulch your garden until it gets established
and then sit back and enjoy as your
*If you choose a rain garden larger than 6. You may wish to stabilize the garden grows.
300 sq ft, you should consult a landscape
borders or your rain garden
specialist, or build 2 smaller gardens.
(especially the berm) with sod,
*Remember that these are just suggestions groundcover, or native grasses. This
Information provided by: Rain gardens for home landscapes,
any rain garden will help control storm will also help slow the water as it University of Georgia Clean Water Campaign; Rain Gardens,
water. enters the garden. University of Wisconsin-Extension; and Designing Rain Gardens, North
Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.