These water-wise gardens allow you to grow new and interesting plant species while taking advantage of natural rainfall
Mention rainwater gardens , and many sept ideate lush pondside display . This eccentric of garden , with lasting abide water , is more accurately called a wetland garden or pee garden . A rain garden is a garden layer locate in a depression in a landscape painting that only holds water for up to about 48 60 minutes after a rain event . Rain gardens , in summation to their natural beauty , serve a number of interesting and worthful intention in a landscape painting , including water conservation , water lineament protection , and inundation and eating away mitigation . The first role , water conservation , is perhaps the most intuitive to read because the plant in a garden bed that collect water overflow are of course going to need less supplemental piss . And pelting garden do n’t just collect rainwater overflow ; they sink in it . After urine is pull together , it is slowly absorbed by the soil , which acts as a filter for pollutants , deposit , and debris carried by the rainwater . These natural action also lead to flood and erosion mitigation by simply slacken down the speed with which the body of water moves across the landscape painting and amuse it to a desire path ( into the rainfall garden for absorption ) .
In the Southern Plains , we have a number of concern to consider when project and design our rain gardens . Our drouth and torrent rainfall patterns , soils , and hot summers make a few limited considerations to keep in head when we ’re pee-pee a rainfall garden . Our hot summer are prone to mosquitoes , and standing water provides a procreation priming for them . Design and conserve your rain garden to carry water for only a day or two so that it does n’t become a mosquito breeding area . Additionally , some of the native grunge in Texas and Oklahoma are gamy in the Great Compromiser or very compacted and therefore do n’t drain well . Since a rain garden must have water - permeable grease to action its critical functions , make certain your rain garden grime is adequate for that design . All technical and practical considerations away , rain gardens can be absolutely gorgeous and a existent opportunity to grow some interesting and different works species .
Steps for Creating a Rain Garden
1. Evaluate your site
Select a website that will by nature amass rain from the landscape . This can be near a gutter downspout , in a innate depression , or at the end of a swale . Look for a ground side of less than 10 % , and do n’t build your garden where runoff overflow might disturb your neighbor , yourself , or any buildings . Ideally , you require a spot with well - drained soil so that piss does n’t collect for too longsighted . Also , more piddle comes off ceiling than most people agnise ; plan for that . trough downspouts and areas near cap overflow can be excellent sources of water for a rain garden . Just verify to reckon about and contrive for where your rain garden will overflow during a large violent storm . I also avoid siting rainwater gardens in very fishy areas simply because shade - loving plants tend to be slower growers and much less showy . Fast - growing works are well suitable to rain garden because they bounce back more quickly from inauspicious event such as floods .
2. Construct your bed
There are some serious on-line resourcefulness ( see below ) that can help you with this stage . you may also keep it childlike : Dig soil out of your propose bed area about 6 inch deep . pitch the sides gently , and loosen the soil in the basin of the bed about 3 inches deep . Make certain that the edge of your rain - garden layer are n’t gamey than the surrounding landscape . ( This run contrary to typical garden bed structure , which almost always has edges higher than the surrounding landscape . ) You want to make certain that piddle is directed toward your depression , or you wo n’t have a rain garden at all .
3. Plant your bed
For many gardener , plant life extract is where the real fun begins . aboriginal or adapted plants are ideally suit to a rain garden because they command minimal maintenance and supplemental irrigation . Remember that your rain garden is not rifle to bide wet all the time , so the plants , especially the ones site on the perimeter , postulate to be drouth tolerant . Plants in the basin of the rainwater garden can be wetland edge species , which can generally take ironical and wet conditions . Below I ’ve listed a few of my preferent works for rain gardens in the Southern Plains .
Grasses ( or grasslike flora )
bush
Tall herbaceous
Low herbaceous
Wetland sharpness
Here are a few first-class online resource for additional entropy on rain - garden design and instalment in the Southern Plains :
— Karen Beaty is a horticulturalist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin , Texas .
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Rain gardens naturally conserve and filter water.Photo: Karen Beaty
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Make sure to construct a rain garden in a location and with soil such that standing water doesn’t last for more than two days.Photo: Karen Beaty
Roof run-off can be an important source of water for your rain garden.Photo: Karen Beaty
The intricate, dangling seed heads of inland sea oats provide more interest than your typical grass.Photo: Michelle Gervais
Buttonbush is adorned with beautiful, soft-colored, pom-pom-like flowers.Photo: Karen Beaty
Cardinal flowers stand tall with a vibrant display of reddish pink flowers.Photo: Michelle Gervais
If you’ve ever spent time in a patch of grass looking for four-leaf clovers, this attractive fern is perfect for your rain garden.Photo: Karen Beaty
The small and delicate flowers of American water-willow come in shades of white and purple.Photo: courtesy of Sheila Brown
