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Rain gardens - a household way to improve water quality in your community
Rain gardens are beautiful landscaping features that manage storm water on-site. Their loose deep soils absorb water and filter pollutants. Rain gardens complement any style of landscape. They are an attractive addition to property and enhance the beauty of the community.
Make a beautiful contribution to cleaner water in Martin County!
What is a rain garden?
Rain gardens are small depressions that collect rainwater runoff from roof downspouts, sump pump discharges, driveways and / or lawns. Within the rain garden the water is absorbed or infiltrated into the soil and/or filtered through the vegetation. Rain gardens are typi cally planted with a variety of native wildflowers and grasses suited to periodically wet conditions.
Compared to a patch of conventional lawy, a rain garden allows about 30 percent more water to soak into the ground.
What are the benefits of rain gardens?
The primary purpose of a rain garden is to reduce the amount of water being conveyed to the local storm water system. Even if water is not absorbed into the ground, the vegetation at least filters the water, reducing the pollutants going into the storm water system and ultimately downstream lakes, streams and rivers. Less water in the system also can reduce downstream flooding. Other benefits include:
- Absorbing and filtering storm water runoff
- Removing common place pollutants from storm water runoff
- Creating wildlife habitat and attracting butterflies and birds
- After the first few years of establishing they are low maintenance
- Rain gardens can be aesthetically pleasing landscape features
How to create a rain garden
Designing and planting a rain garden is much like creating any other perennial garden, with a few unique differences. The garden must be located where runoff can be diverted into it, away from building foundations and utilities. A shallow, saucer shaped depression is created in the garden to hold rain as it soaks in.
Soil replacement and additional preparation are sometimes needed for success. A good soil mix for rain gardens is 50-60% sand, 20-30% topsoil, and 20-30% compost.
Species of perennial plants native to our region are recommended, as they are adapted to local conditions and will not need extra care once they are established.
A mulch of shredded hardwood is an integral part of your rain garden. It keeps the soil moist and ready to soak up rain, and makes your garden low maintenance.
Consider a rain garden for your yard
A rain garden can be your personal contribution to cleaner water. Individual efforts can help improve the water quality of our lakes, rivers, springs, and aquifer. This neighborhood campaign to "slow the flow" of storm water runoff will lead to a better environment. Community gardens may seem small, but collectively they produce substantial local and regional water quality benefits. Rain gardens work for us in several ways.
Tips for planting a productive rain garden
- For easy care, the rain garden can be completely planted with native species
- Ask a few friends to help with the planting. After preparing a site, a few people planting for an hour can be fun for everyone and will allow you to get it done in a relatively short amount of time.
- In the weeks after planting, you may want to keep removing weeds until the mature garden plants crowd them out.
- Leave the dead or dormant plants standing over the winter. Many of the plants will provide seeds and shelter for birds. In the spring, cut back or mow the stalks to allow new shoots to emerge.
Installation of a rain garden is slightly more work than a comparable area of lawn, but once the plants have matured, maintenance is low.
Martin SWCD
http://www.martinswcd.net
923 N State St, Ste 170
Fairmont, MN 56031
(507) 235-6680
email cathy.thiesse@mn.nacdnet.net
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