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Rain Gardens are Attractive Options for Storm Runoff
By
Laura Skillman
PRINCETON, Ky., (March 14, 2007) – Rain gardens are an
environmentally friendly option homeowners have for reducing
storm water runoff from their property while creating an
aesthetically pleasing spot in the landscape.
Storm water runoff poses an increasingly difficult problem for
many urban areas. Storm sewers, drainage ditches and retention
basins often overflow during significant rains, causing soil
erosion and flooding. Runoff can also carry excess fertilizer
and pesticide residue to streams and lakes that compromise their
ecological balance. Most commercial properties are now required
to develop storm water management plans, but developing a rain
garden is something the average homeowner can do as well.
A rain garden is a strategically located low area planted with
native vegetation that intercepts runoff and allows it to
infiltrate the soil, said Rick Durham, consumer horticulture
specialist with the University of Kentucky College of
Agriculture. Rain gardens are becoming popular in many parts of
the Midwest and some municipalities offer tax credits to
properties where they are installed. Durham said he was not
aware of any incentives available to Kentucky homeowners.
Rain gardens are not bogs or marshes, rather they are
constructed to collect runoff and allow it to drain away within
a few days, he said. Rain gardens do not promote the growth of
mosquitoes.
Durham and Jim Lempke, curator of natural ecosystems at The
Arboretum, say interest in rain gardens is growing. Both have
given presentations in recent months to various horticultural
groups on these gardens.
“I’m talking with people about them a lot, but I’m not sure how
many are being installed,” Durham said.
Anyone that wants to see one can do so by visiting the Bluegrass
collection located near the woods at The Arboretum, Lempke said.
Many plants suitable for rain gardens can also be found
throughout the facility.
Most residential rain gardens are 100 to 200 square feet in
size, which is large enough to handle the runoff produced from a
typical roof in an average rain, perhaps a thousand gallons of
water, Durham said.
The rain garden is located down slope and away from the building
so that wet soil will not compromise the structural integrity of
the building’s foundation. A naturally occurring low lying area
is ideal for the rain garden, but a shallow depression can be
constructed by excavating some soil and creating a small bank or
berm on the lower side of a slope, he said.
Check the area for proper drainage by digging a hole one foot
deep and one foot wide and filling it with water, Durham said.
If the water drains away within 24 hours, drainage is adequate.
If drainage is not adequate, loosen the soil and mix in
additional sand and compost or peat moss to aid drainage.
When designing a rain garden, Lempke suggests selecting native
plants with vivid flowers and making grasses and sedges the
“backbone” of the garden.
Many native perennial plants do very well in rain gardens. Some
of the more popular plants might include Joe Pye weed,
black-eyed Susans, asters, goldenrod, and swamp milkweed, Durham
said. Though not necessarily native, ornamental grasses also
work well in rain gardens as do several varieties of native
shrubs such as button bush, beautyberry, bottlebrush buckeye,
and oakleaf hydrangea.
Other species that are suitable include box elder, swamp white
oak, red maple, swamp rose mallow, pale dogwood, sneezeweed,
wild sunflowers, cardinal flower and ladies’-tresses, Lempke
said.
There are a large number of plants suitable for rain gardens and
with a little research, homeowners can find the right ones for
their landscape.
Some other suggestions from Lempke to aid the environmental and
aesthetic benefits of a rain garden are to be sure to keep
native plant gardens looking neat. A homeowner can also add
“cues that show care” such as a strip of mowed turf, fences,
stone walls and neat rows of wildflowers.
The gardens also can be planted adjacent to existing trees and
shrubs that may be providing cover and food for wildlife. If
installing a rain garden near an existing tree or shrub, take
care to avoid extensive changes in grade that may occur. Many
tree roots are quite sensitive to even a few inches of extra
surface soil. Keep the view to your front doors and windows
open, he said, and use tall plants and shrubs to frame the
public view to your house rather than to cover it.
Spring and fall are good times to install a rain garden. Anyone
wanting more information can contact a county office of the UK
Cooperative Extension Service or submit their questions to
http://www.gardendata.org.
GardenData.org was developed by the Cooperative Extension
Service to provide gardeners, consumers and other visitors a
reliable source of updated horticultural information through a
database of commonly asked gardening questions that have
science-based, peer-reviewed answers.
There will also be a workshop this spring at The Arboretum for
anyone interested in rain gardens. The program is May 10 from 9
a.m. to noon. Topics discussed will include basic processes of
storm water movement, appropriate native plant species, garden
patterns and structural materials.
Later this spring, The Arboretum and Lexington will be
installing a large rain garden near the Glendover Road entrance
as part of a joint storm water project. |
Contact: Rick Durham, 859-257-3249
Jim Lempke, 859-257-9339 |
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of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
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to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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