RAIN GARDENS Everyone should have one.
WHY? They are beautiful bird and butterfly habitats but most importantly, rain gardens absorb and filter storm water. The wildflowers and shrubs that thrive in the wet conditions slow down excess storm-water and they filter pollutants from impervious surfaces such as driveways and rooftops.
Rain gardens can be planted anywhere. Ideally they are located to intercept the flow of water to the storm drain. That nuisance area of the lawn that is sometimes too wet to mow in the spring is a natural setting for a rain garden. Instead of installing drainage, plant a colorful year round garden!
Those stagnant, wet lawn areas which are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes can become a balanced natural eco-system. Control pesky mosquitoes by inviting colorful dragonflies and toads to dine on them. Hardy healthy plants that are adapted to wet springs and dry cracking clay soils in the summer are perfect for the busy working professionals and require minimal maintenance.?
Rain Gardens are the natural way to protect water and landscape your property.
Let’s get started creating a rain garden in your yard!
Site selection and size
WHERE? Site selection is always the 1st step in designing a garden. Designing and installing a rain garden does not have to be complicated. Normal preparation and planting of a typical garden is all that is necessary.
Areas between sidewalks and roads may be considered for a low cottage style garden if there are no local restrictions, so check with your local municipality before planning a garden in such an area.
The side yard that may have been graded initially to channel the roof runoff to the storm-water drain could be ideal for a hedgerow of water loving trees, shrubs and perennials. Look for naturally wet areas or watch the flow of the rainwater. Plan the garden to cut across the swale area and to temporarily trap and spread the water over the garden. Try some test holes by digging an 8-12” deep hole. If the area does not drain within a day or two of digging a hole, then a wetland garden will be more suitable than a rain garden.
SIZE? The size of the garden can be determined by the square footage of the roof, sidewalks and driveway that will drain to the rain garden. If you are planting in the front yard and half of the roof drains to the back, do not include that in your calculation. A rule of thumb is to divide the square feet of impervious surface by 20 and that will give you the size of the garden. For example, if the total adds up to 1000 sq.ft then a 50 sq ft area is needed with a minimum of 6 inch depth.
Design Plans
Here are a few favorites for the Northeast:
LOW GARDEN PLAN.
Roadway and driveway areas should be planted with low gardens to avoid blocking safety views. Plants should not exceed 3 foot in height.
Everyone loves Iris! Did you know that the small blue ones are natives to wetlands?
Red Cardinal flower or Blue Lobelia make quite a statement with their tall flowers late in the summer when everything else is waning.
Obedient plant with long lasting pink flowers in summer.
Asclepias incarnata, (a much more melodic sounding name, which is just Latin for the underrated plant milkweed) with erect shrubby, yet herbaceous stems at 2-3 feet tall, is loaded with clusters of fragrant pink flowers all summer. This plant’s nectar is a magnet for many butterflies and it is the only food source for the migrating Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.
Monarda is a great brightly colored summer flowering plant that attracts hummingbirds.
Black-Eyed Susans flower in the fall and the seeds provide bird food into the winter.
Small Garden Design Plan: In the layout for 50 sq.ft, use 15 plants of a typical one gallon garden store pot. The same design can be repeated multiple times for a long narrow rain garden.
3 Iris, 2 Red lobelia, 3 blue lobelia, 2 monarda, 1 asclepias (milkweed), 3 black eye susans, 1 obedient plant
View a Low Rain Garden schematic.
MID-SIZE PLAN.
For a hedge size planting, the following shrubs are good candidates for rain gardens.
Itea Virginica (Virginia sweetspire) a medium shrub with showy white fragrant hanging clusters of flowers in late spring and shades of red, purple and yellow in the fall can be seen from a distant window or as you come and go in your driveway. Summer flowering clethra and, for the winter contrast against white snow, nothing beats the red and yellow twig dogwoods or the brilliant red berries of Ilex verticillata.
For a 50 foot hedgerow, use 9 plants as per Mid-Size Rain Garden design.
View a Mid-Size Rain Garden schematic.
TREE/SHRUB/FLOWER PLAN.
Rhus Typhinia a small ornamental tree with its deep blood red 8 inch pyramidal fruit clusters against the dark green foliage that turns a brilliant orange red in the fall is called sumac and is unfairly confused with poison sumac. The umbrella of the staghorn sumac casts filtered shade onto nearby flowers.
The Red Maple Acer Rubrum which is green in summer and has red fall foliage is a great shade tree and accents a group planting.
For 200 sq ft, mix 1 shade tree, 2 understory trees, 8 shrubs, 1 dozen perennials
These design ideas are just a guideline. A list of other favorite natives is provided to choose from additionally or instead. Have fun designing your own rain garden and no need to struggle with finicky exotic ornamentals when there so many stunning native plants that could be used in your garden. The added bonus is that rain gardens are alive with colorful birds and butterflies.
Are appropriate for areas that are wet all season in which the soil never dries out, and is the place for emergent plants that can tolerate year round wet-roots. Examples of these plants are Buttonbush, Iris versicolor, swamp milkweed, Joe Pye weed, sedge grasses, Sensitive fern, chelone, Pickerel Weed, marsh marigolds, viburnum cassinodes, elderberry, aronia.
All of the plants mentioned above for wetlands can also be incorporated into rain gardens.
Rain Garden Photos
Photos courtesy of Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care.
