Embedded Files
What is a Rain Garden?
What is a Rain Garden?
Rain gardens are gardens planted in shallow depressions in the landscape for the purpose of capturing and filtering stormwater runoff. Rain gardens reduce water pollution by allowing stormwater to slowly infiltrate back into the soil at which point the roots, mulch, and soil help filter out pollutants. Often planted with native grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens also provide food and shelter for native pollinators and other wildlife.
Notes About Rain Gardens
Notes About Rain Gardens
While during dry times, rain gardens may need watering until the plants are established, once the garden is mature, it will need very little care as the native plants have deep roots and are well suited to their climate.
Rain gardens are not water gardens. Rain gardens should completely drain within 48 hours. This prevents mosquitoes from breeding and ensures that the plants don’t drown.
Rain gardens are designed to capture and filter pollutants, including garbage. Depending on the location of your rain garden you may need to frequently or occasionally clean garbage out of the garden bed. This is much more likely with a garden collecting water from the road and something you need to pay less attention to if you are just filtering water from your own roof.
Reasons that Rain Gardens are Beneficial to the Environment:
Reasons that Rain Gardens are Beneficial to the Environment:
Rain gardens capture stormwater runoff and reduce the amount of water that is running into the storm drains, which can help prevent flooding.
Rain gardens filter the stormwater that they capture which reduces the amount of pollutants that make it into the waterways.
Rain gardens are typically planted with native plants which provide food and habitats for pollinators, birds, and other animals.
Native plants also have longer roots than turf grass which helps prevent erosion.
Rain gardens keep water in one place, giving it a chance to filter into the ground, where it can be used by other plants or soak deeper to replenish the groundwater supply.
Information About Minnesota Rain Gardens
Information About Minnesota Rain Gardens
Here are some links to more information about stormwater runoff and rain gardens in Minnesota
https://www.bloomingtonmn.gov/sites/default/files/rainwater-info.pdf
https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/clean-water/stormwater-runoff/
Rain Garden Resources by State:
Rain Garden Resources by State:
These links are to state universities or other reputable sites for each state. They are a sampling of the resources available, an internet search specific to your area will likely turn up many more. Look at your state and the states surrounding yours to find plants that will likely do well in your rain garden. In addition to these links, try an internet search for native plant nurseries in your area. The second link under the state of New York below might be of interest to anyone who is in an urban environment without the space for traditional rain gardens.
These links are to state universities or other reputable sites for each state. They are a sampling of the resources available, an internet search specific to your area will likely turn up many more. Look at your state and the states surrounding yours to find plants that will likely do well in your rain garden. In addition to these links, try an internet search for native plant nurseries in your area. The second link under the state of New York below might be of interest to anyone who is in an urban environment without the space for traditional rain gardens.
Minnesota (also Minnesota) (also Minnesota)
Nebraska (also Nebraska) (also Nebraska)
New Hampshire (also New Hampshire)
New Jersey (also New Jersey) (also New Jersey)
New York (also New York- for urban areas)
Rain Garden Pictures (more to come).
Rain Garden Pictures (more to come).
These pictures are of the first steps of creating a rain garden. They include a preliminary marking of the location, digging, and a better outline of the garden as it's shape became more defined.
These pictures show the last day of digging the rain garden, laying weed barrier and spreading the wood chips.
This is a picture of a rain garden shortly after it was planted. It will fill in throughout the summer
In this picture the plants have been growing about a month and the sign has been installed.
The Garden has been growing a bit longer and the second sign (which links to this webpage) has been installed
June 29th, the plants are starting to bloom.
July 11th
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse