Build your own rain garden
There is a new garden in town. It is (mostly) easy to install, good throughout the whole year of looks, it requires almost no maintenance and has a great impact on the atmosphere upbeat. No rain gardens wonder such a great new gardening trend!
The output of stormwater can be a big problem in summer during heavy thunderstorms. As water rushes across roofs and driveways, take the oil and other pollutants. Municipal treatment facilities stormwater can often tap-T 'the flood of water, and in many locations the untreated water ends up in natural channels. The EPA estimates as much as 70 percent of the pollution in our streams, rivers and lakes is carried there by stormwater! Taking responsibility for the rainwater that falls on your own roof and driveway, you help to protect our rivers, streams and lakes from pollution of the stormwater.
To reduce the excess water out, many towns are encouraging businesses and homeowners to install rain gardens in their yards. The rain gardens are specially constructed gardens located in low areas of a yard where stormwater can be collected. The idea is to have the water naturally funnel to this garden. The rain garden collects water outlet and stores and filters it until it can be absorbed slowly through the soil. Something that rushing off in a storm sewer or a local channel, the rainwater can collect in a garden where it will be filtered naturally by plants and soil.
Installing a rain garden is easy.
You simply dig a depression in your yard and down the plant with natural
grasses and wildflowers, things that are easy to grow and maintain in your area.
What makes a garden a rain garden? First, the garden will be designed with a low point in the center to collect and absorb rain water and melting snow. This depression can range from a few inches in a small garden, dug a channel that is several feet deep. Second, rain gardens are usually located where they will catch the output of impervious surfaces like sidewalks and driveways, or channels and valleys of the roof. Third, rain gardens are usually planted with native wildflowers and grasses that thrive in tough growing conditions. Finally, rain gardens are designed to channel heavy rains to another rain garden or elsewhere in the garden.
Your rain garden should be located at least 10 feet from the house. The size and location of the 's of the garden depends on the yard. Ideally, locate the garden in a natural depression. You can also concentrate water from downspouts on the canals in the garden. The soil should be well drained so the 'water doesn t sit in the garden for more than two days. A special mix of soil "of the rain garden" of sand 50 to 60 percent, 20 percent to 30 percent topsoil, and 20 to 30 percent compost is recommended. You can dig this mixture into the soil to the depth of 2 feet before planting.
Once you have identified the location of the new garden, remove grass and dig a low depression about 6 inches deep. The faces are inclined gradually from the outer edge to the deepest area. Use the soil you removed to increase slightly raised area on the lower face of the garden. This berm will help contain stormwater and allow it to percolate slowly through the rain garden.
If your rain garden is no more than about 6 inches deep, stormwater will usually absorbed within a period of one to seven days. Because mosquitoes require seven to 10 days to market and hatch their eggs, this will help prevent mosquito problems.
Its plug pump or the drop of pond water should be directed to their depression of the rain garden. This can be achieved by a natural slope, digging a low swale, or transmitting the output directly to the garden through "of a buried plastic drain tile diameter 4.
Plant selection. The final touch.
The hardest part of building a rain garden (if it can even be called that) can be plant selection. The plants need to be resilient enough to withstand periodic flooding, yet attractive enough to look good in the garden. The deep-rooted native plants, low-care, such as asters, and tough non-natives, such as daylilies, are best. If designed properly, the rain garden can consist of a blend of attractive shrubs, perennials, trees, and ground covers. The establishment of grass strips around the garden and using mulch can also help filter the water.
The new plants should be watered every other day for the first two weeks or so. Once they are established, your garden should thrive without additional watering. Fertilizers are not necessary, and only minimal weeding will be necessary after the first summer of growth.
