{"id":3939,"date":"2015-07-08T18:54:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T18:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2023-08-18T14:21:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T18:21:27","slug":"rain-gardens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2015\/07\/rain-gardens.html","title":{"rendered":"Rain Gardens – What Are They? How Do You Make One?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rain<\/a>What is a rain garden? Rain gardens are a simple way that suburban and urban homeowners can plant a beautiful garden and help keep the water supply clean and safe.<\/p>\n

A rain garden is a small garden planted in a rainwater run-off area in your yard. A typical rain garden may be planted on the lawn in a shallow spot where water naturally collects<\/a>, or at the end of a downspout. \u00a0The ground is dug down a bit, and deep-rooted native plants are planted in the rain garden. When the rain water washes off the roof, driveway or walkways, it collects in the garden area. The plants hold the soil in place and provide time for the water to slowly seep into the soil.<\/p>\n

Soil acts like a filter, allowing rainwater to replenish ground water supplies. Forests, fields and meadows provide such a service in rural areas. In urban and suburban areas, however, construction of roads, parking lots, shopping malls and other man-made areas have diminished the open spaces needed to clean and replenish ground water supplies. Water rushes from the flat roofs of big buildings like malls and grocery stores down drain pipes where it rushes over a concrete parking lot, collecting trash, dripped oil and other spills. This now contaminated water spills into sewers, where more garbage collects and ferments, including natural items like leaves and unnatural items like candy wrappers and trash. Then the water from the sewers flows into sumps, rain water collection stations, rivers or oceans. Most is screened free of trash, but screens can’t remove oil, gasoline, and other spills that water flowing over concrete parking lots and roadways picks up.<\/p>\n

Rainwater provides mankind with all of its freshwater in some way, shape or form. It is said that 97% of the world’s water supply is salt water, and that 3% is freshwater. But within that 3%, about 2% is tied up in glaciers and the arctic ice caps, leaving humans with just 1% of fresh water available for all of our needs. We need to safeguard our fresh water supplies!<\/p>\n

\"Wilkes-Lake\"<\/a>

Wilkes Lake, Farmville, Virginia.<\/p><\/div>\n

A rain garden may seem like a small step, but think about protecting pollinators. For years, homeowners sprayed their gardens with pesticides, never dreaming that they may have contributed to honey bee hive collapse disease. Of course there are probably more reasons why the disease developed as it did, and big agricultural business and farms spray a lot more than one suburban homeowner sprays in a given year. But multiply one suburban home with millions more like it around the United States, and you can see how one person’s actions, if copied by others, end up creating a massive movement in the environment.<\/p>\n

Your home rain garden may be just a small patch of earth devoted to a little rain collection station, but if others create a similar rain garden, then we can make a huge difference in the quality and quantity of fresh water available for generations to come.<\/p>\n

My own perennial garden acts as a rain garden. Our water well is stationed in the middle of the perennial garden. The garden itself is on a steep slope off of the driveway. During a heavy rain, water runs down the driveway, which is at about a 10% grade, and some flows into the perennial garden. We never have a problem with runoff from the perennial garden because the plants and rock borders capture and hold the rainwater sufficiently.<\/p>\n

I’ve gathered some suggested books available on Amazon for you if you would like to learn more about rain gardens. (Please note that I am an Amazon affiliate; if you click the pictures below and purchase something from Amazon, I make a small commission, which does not affect your price in any way. Thank you.)
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