What is a Rain Garden?
A rain garden is a small area in a residential yard or neighborhood designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water that comes from a house roof, driveway or patio. A rain garden is not a pond or wetland. It is dry most of the time and holds and filters water after a rain. Rain water is routed to the garden and filtered naturally by the plants and soils of the garden. Rain gardens typically are planted with a mixture of perennial flowers, ornamental grasses and woody shrubs that are adapted to wet and dry conditions. Water collected in the rain garden slowly infiltrates into the soil to support plant growth. In a properly sited and designed rain garden standing water disappears in less than 48 hours.
Benefits of Rain Gardens
Roof tops, sidewalks, driveways and patios do not allow rainfall to infiltrate into the soil. These impervious areas increase the amount of runoff from urban areas which can cause flooding and carry pollutants to surface water. Polluted runoff, including excess lawn and garden fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, yard wastes, sediment, and animal wastes, drains daily into our storm sewers and endangers these water resources. Rain gardens can capture runoff from these areas and reduce the effect of flooding and runoff pollution. In addition, rain gardens provide many visual benefits, including diverse plantings of native flowers, grasses and ornamental plants. The raised berms in the rain garden also add height, contrast, and texture to level areas to create an attractive garden view.
Quick Facts
-Nearly 70% of the pollution in our streams and lakes comes from storm water.
-Properly designed rain gardens can trap and retain up to 99% of common pollutants in runoff.
-Rain gardens deter mosquitoes because the rain water drains quickly and leaves the mosquito eggs to dry out.
-Rain gardens provide a desirable habitat that attracts birds and butterflies.
Contact the Boone Gardiner Green Team at 502.243.3832 to learn more about how to create a Rain Garden
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