How deep should a rain garden be?

Rain gardens should be between four and eight inches deep.

Do rain gardens attract mosquitoes?

No. Mosquitoes require 7 to 12 days to lay and hatch eggs. Standing water in the rain garden lasts for a few hours after most storms. Rain gardens attract dragonflies, which eat mosquitoes.

What are the different layers of a rain garden?

The rain garden consists of a stone ponding or vegetated area, a mulch layer, a planting soil layer, then a sand bed a gravel base.

How do you size a rain garden?

A rain garden should be about 20% the size of the roof, pavement, or patio area draining into it.

What are the benefits of rain gardens?

A well-placed rain garden reduces flooding and runoff and filters pollutants stormwater runoff carries. Alongside the municipal benefits and conservation of a natural resource, rain gardens create a habitat for birds and butterflies.

Do the rain gardens have standing water?

Rain gardens are meant to infiltrate water in 24 hours. If it has been raining for several days, your rain garden might have standing water until it stops raining. The water needs time to soak into the ground.

What types of plants work best to absorb the most water?

Ferns, Iris', and Daylilies are all examples of plants that absorb a lot of water.

What can you plant in a rain garden? Flowers, shrubs, and grasses are all suitable for a rain garden.

Flowers, shrubs, and grasses are all suitable for a rain garden.

How much does a rain garden cost?

Professional installation typically goes for about $10-$20 a square foot.

How effective are rain gardens?

Compared to conventional lawns, rain gardens allow 30% more water to soak into the soil.

What plants can be used for a rain garden?

Some plants the suit a rain garden are the cardinal flower, black-eyed Susan, swamp milkweed, swamp mallow, joe-pye weed, sedges, Bluestar, and turtlehead plants.

How do you build a rain garden?

Your rain garden should be 10 feet from the house at a minimum. A natural site is a low area in your yard that collects water after heavy rain. Dig a shallow depression about 6" deep. Slope the sides from the outside edge to the deepest area. Use the soil that you remove to create a slightly raised area on the lowest side of the garden. Your roof's downspout should be directed toward the rain garden.

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A shallow, bowl-shaped garden bed with drainage gravel underneath it, planted with plants that love water. It collects water from the downspouts of nearby buildings and allows the water to percolate down into the ground, replenishing groundwater supplies.

Ensure the slope of your ground is sloped away from your house - this is important for drainage anyway. Find a suitable site in your yard, at least 10 feet away from your home, that the water will flow to. Dig a hole approximately three feet deep and about 5 feet in diameter in porous soil. Fill the bottom of the hole with course drainage gravel about a foot thick, and add about a foot of fertile garden soil. Leave a bit of a bowl-like depression in the ground so that the water will sink in there. In the bowl, plant a variety of perennial water-loving plants, bushes, shrubs, and grasses that are native to your area. Example plants in Canada include Blue Flag Iris, Black-eyed Susan, and SwitchGrass. There are excellent guides online. Or look for a landscaping company that offers rain garden design and construction.

A rain garden is a cost-effective way to manage storm water on your property. It reduces erosion and the impact of runoff on streets, storm drains, and waterways, especially in urban areas with heavy rainfall. It's also an opportunity to make a beautiful water feature in your garden.

Many cities in the State of Minnesota, USA, have adopted rain gardens for storm water management in a big way. In people's yards and along streets, you'll see places where the storm water runs into managed gardens, instead of into the Mississippi River via the storm water drains. This is helping keep the river healthy and saving the budget of the city because rain gardens cost less to build than new storm water pipes. Nicer looking too!

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