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Rain Gardens provide you with more than beautiful landscaping. If you have experienced flooding on your property, this could be one tool to help reduce the risk of it happening again. A rain garden helps to drain the water away from your home during a storm. Follow these steps to learn more about building a rain garden in your yard.
Flag or paint the location of buried irrigation lines, if necessary.
Materials required: Rain Garden Design, string, stakes, level, metre stick, measuring tape, lawn paint (optional), garden hose
Use this opportunity to make any small changes to the rain garden shape. Keep in mind that major changes in location or shape of the rain garden may impact the planting plan and the function of the rain garden.
Materials required: edging spade, rototiller, shovels, wheel barrow, tarp, string, stakes, level, metre stick, sod cutter (optional)
Materials required: shovel, erosion control blanket and seed (optional), sod (optional), washed rocks (optional)
The rain garden outlet requires erosion protection since excess water leaving the garden will be concentrated at this location. Rocks or grass on the side of the berm meeting the existing lawn will slow the flow of water leaving the rain garden and protect the soil from eroding.
Materials required: topsoil, shovel, tamper, landscape rake, string, level, 8ft 2x4 (optional)
Sections of the garden that are lower than the surrounding area, due to compacting soil over time, will tend to pond water during large rain events and can be remedied by filling the area to level with soil, beneath the mulch.
Materials required: shovel, landscape rake, mulch
Mulch helps with water retention and discourages weed growth (U.S. Air Force photo by Charles Haymond/Released).
Materials required: garden spade, watering can, plants, gloves
To avoid having to thin plant material later, space shrubs and plants based on their expected mature size, according to your Rain Garden Design.
Materials required: washed rock, shovel
Placing rocks at the inlet slows the force of the water entering the garden, preventing erosion of the soil. Rocks also allow sediment and debris to drop out of the water before entering the garden in order to protect the garden soil from clogging.
Materials required: washed rock, shovel
Downspouts can be disconnected and directed into existing lawn or garden areas until the rain garden is complete. Do not direct downspout extension into unfinished rain garden.
Allow runoff from disconnected downspout to enter rain garden.
Congratulations! This is the final step in changing your front yard garden into a rain garden!
See our rain garden maintenance checklist for directions and tips.