What are Rain Gardens?

Rain gardens are small depressions planted with native wetland and prairie vegetation, rather than turfgrass lawn, where rain and snowmelt collects and eventually soaks into the ground. In your Rain Garden, you can plant lush water garden species such as water lilies, sedges and bulrushes which will attract many species of beautiful and beneficial wildlife.

Typically, Rain Gardens are supplied with clean water that runs off from rooftops through gutters and downspouts, or from basement sump pumps. Rain Gardens are generally shallow depressions, often dug by hand, to which water can be piped or "swaled". The depressional area itself is planted with water garden or native wetland plants. These are then surrounded with native prairie wildflowers and grasses along the perimeter area of the depression.

Water that enters your Rain Garden will slowly seep into the ground, or collect as a small pond that slowly evaporates. Some rain gardens can be designed to infiltrate water into the ground when and if water levels rise above the rim of the depression or "shoreline". These types of Rain Gardens would have underground sand or gravel layers that reach the surface along the perimeter of the depression. When water levels reach the rim, or perimeter, water would soak into these porous sand and gravel layers, preventing water levels from rising higher.

In many soil types, water will naturally infiltrate, or soak into the ground. If your goal is to have a pond for several weeks after a rainstorm, it may be necessary in sandy or gravel soils to install a plastic or compacted clay liner to prevent rapid infiltration. If your goal is to maximize infiltration, soils comprised of sands and gravels can be left in place, or they can be installed to replace clay soils. These "infiltration gardens" are then planted with species that will tolerate rapid wet-up and dry-down.

Rain Gardens may be one to two feet deep with a very gradual shoreline that provides for easy establishment of your planting, and for safety. Because of their shallowness and gentle slopes, a Rain Garden does not pose any threat to pets, children or senior citizens.

Rain Gardens function well year-round, and offer ever-changing beauty as different plants and flowers bloom at different times. In spring and fall, your Rain Garden will be wetter than average. In summer, it'll be drier than normal; however, the native plants used in your Rain Garden are drought-tolerant so they'll easily survive and maintain their attractive appearance through long dry periods. In winter, the magnificent dried grasses and wildflowers will catch the snow in artistic patterns, showing off a surprising variety of textures and subtle colors to delight observant on-lookers. In every season, your Rain Garden will provide harboring shelter and caches of food for year-round wild birds, migrating birds and a host of other interesting critters.