Trying to decide... pond... rain garden... bog??? HELP

16 years ago

I have attached a photo of my basic lot layout for my front and side yards. Due to how narrow my lot is my sump pump outlet pumps out water and it seams to almost run right back down into the drainage tile. I required the builder to add a 10 ft peice of PVC pipe to extend where the water is released but this just extends the water logged area.

basically I need help determining the best solution. I have about 15 feet from my sump pump outlet to my property line. I would like to frame a waterfall type design around the sump pump pipe on the exterior of my house, hiding the actual pipe. I am now trying to decide what to do next? a semi dry rock river bed? run the waterfall down to a pond? or just let it spill down the waterfall and build up the area with water resilient plants?

Basically I the waterfall type scenario is a must have ( I cant let go of the idea since I thought of it) but I dont want a whole bunch of reoccuring maintenance.

All suggestions welcome including plant ideas as I only have the LiR Hydrangea back there right now.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

kcmojoe
Original Author
16 years ago
I will try and get a pic of what it looks like on the side of the house tonight and post it up tomorrow.
rhodium
16 years ago
For the waterfall idea, won't it only be in operation during a rain event? I usually stay inside during the rain.

A rain garden or bog would offer the most non-weather dependent enjoyment.
Related Discussions
HELP! Don't know what to do about this pond/bog mess!
Q
Comments (3)
I will assume that you have an EPDM (soft black rubber) liner. In all cases I think you'll have to empty your pond. Alternatives (easy to difficult): 1) Pull the liner and fill the hole. 2) Fill half the hole with earth (with liner in place) and reuse & put your peat or other bog media in the top half. 3) Cut the liner back a few more inches from where it is being infringed-upon by the irises (this might be on all sides) and get into the irises somehow with equipment, herbicides, or muscle-power so to remove them. Then try a large linear patching job. I have not had reason to patch EPDM but they sell seam tapes and bonding adhesives. This will be tricky, no doubt because I think we're talking about the vertical wall of your pond. 4)And for real work, tear-out and start over. You can have someone with power equipment do this or if you are so inclined you can usually rent hydraulic equipment, even walk-behind types, and do it yourself. Good Luck.
...See More
Bog garden in preformed pond liner?
Q
Comments (6)
Not familiar w/ "everdry". As long as the water quality is good don't see why it wouldn't work. Is the water temp cool? If so there are some interesting things you could try, if you're brave. 65 gallons is big. I would fill the bottom w/ inert material to about 18" to 20" from the top, then you want to use a 50/50 mix of peat and sand, NO SOIL. Bogs are nutrient poor acidic enviornments. This would be a typical pitcher plant, flytrap, sundew type bog. Lots of things can be grown in this ecosystem including native orchids etc. I'm sure others will fill you in.
...See More
Digging a Bog Pond is Fun!
Q
Comments (62)
Owning 40acres in Northern WI. It has a pond for drainage as well as a pond underging succession. I want to change that and had come here as there are some other folks out there doing the same. I wanted to clarify some things. According to a checklist I found dnr.wi.gov/topic/waterways/checklists/checklist_manualdredging.pdf it appears that I can do this. I have an area about 30' x 20' that I will bring all down to about 1' or less, as long as it all has water and I can get rid of the canary grass. I will so this by hand and plan on replanting with native WI plants which will benifit nature. I realizeI am disrupting nature but there are some species of plants which are not native and are invasive which I would like to avoid and be rid of. I have read much drivel on this site and anyone who wants to know local/state laws the DNR of many states have excellent information on their respective websites. What a wonderful wealth of information. Teaches all anything from planting trees to building a pond. After removing I will place the spoils within 20' of the newly rejuvenated pond in case i picked up any critter along the way. They can make their way back home. I would love to simply fill in the wet hole but I cannot following the law!!! I repeat, following WI DNR codes I will work MY land finding compromise with what I would like as well abiding by laws set up to protect nature. I will plant the following in the water that will fill the hole: Spike Rush, Arrowhead, Waterlily, Pickerelweed, Sweet Flag, Wild Celery, Longleaf Pondweed, Water Stargrass All are edible by various wildlife and even some by humans. I do not have such an ego that I will keep them all for myself...... An old post I am adding to but I enjoyed and am going to enjoy more watching the ducks swim among the frogs. There are 39.8 more acres that has already succesionized so I don't worry too much. I hope the rest of the frogs nt in the pond don't die too much from the glyphosate I will use to get rid of the canary grass so I can plant trees. Only about 400 this year.
...See More
Is a Rain Garden a Bog Garden?
Q
Comments (8)
Hi Hergrammy, The short answer. No. Rain gardens are not bogs. The long answer. Bogs have water in them all of the time. Bogs are usually composed of a sphagnum moss substrate (not dirt), are acidic, and are nutrient poor (no runoff from a fertilized lawn). Bogs are not a good solution for your problem. On the other hand, rain gardens are perfect for the situation that you described (rapid lawn runoff where you can't grow lawn). Check with your local University Extension office or Master Gardener group for a list of rain garden plants in your area. They will also have a brochure on how to construct a rain garden. With that said, let me give you a brief overview of the concept. At the low spot in your yard, you want to essentially dig a wide pit. You want to trap most of the runoff after a rain event. The floor of the pit should be level (you need to measure this with a level and dig out the high spots with a shovel). The low spot of your pit should be about 3 - 6 inches below grade (you want the water to pool). The shape of the rain garden can be rectangular or kidney shaped. It should be sized to about 20 percent of your roof area. That is, if your roof is 1,000 square feet then the rain garden should be at least 200 square feet. The idea is to channel the rain that falls on your roof into the rain garden and the water should be held there for some time. Plant the rain garden with wet prairie native plants (again consult with your Extension / Master Gardener group). Most of the native plants will be sedges and grasses. You should also plant with several pretty flowering forbs like milkweed, joe pye weed, and others. After a year or two, you'll have a very attractive garden that is maintenance free and stops rain runoff as well. It's a great project. Hope this helps. Tom
...See More
agardenstateof_mind
16 years ago
Some municipalities require that ponds be fenced for safety reasons. A raingarden or bog, because it shouldn't be holding standing water for any length of time, might be exempt from this requirement. Would that factor make a difference in your choice?
duluthinbloomz4
16 years ago
Again, how wet or boggy is your site at any given time? Obviously when it's raining and the sump is active, but otherwise? You've got one downspout pictured which must drain into the same field.

I just googled rain gardens in Missouri and found some interesting reading, pictures, plant lists, and rain gardens to visit.

For your situation and space, the rain garden makes the most sense to me; a pond would be work (and unless there's something I'm just not getting) only fed when the sump pump activates; a bog conjurs up a dank mosquito breeding ground - but the rain garden functions as a garden wet or dry. And no reason why you couldn't incorporate the sump discharge pipe into some type of fountain waterfall affair. What direction does that side of your house face? Any concerns about creating water problems for the neighboring property that need to be addressed?
kcmojoe
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for the response so far. I am new to all of this... but basically the house faces in a SE direction so the side of the house is a South to south west direction.
The downspout dumps out about 2 feet from the property line and when there is heave rainfall it runs towards the front of the lot along the property line. This water is joined by the water that is dumped from the sump.

During July we were very fortunate(uncharacteristically sp?) to get a lot of rainfall and my property line had roughly 2 inches of standing water when you stepped in the ground around the downspout and sump pump discharge area. When its relatively dry out there is no standing water but the ground is moist.

No matter what route I go I will be running a rock type bed from the pump towards the front of the house I think.
This will divert any major rainfall from causing problems on my neighbors property, plus he has a significantly higher grade than I do.

My rambling is done I think. This is kind of like a thinking out loud session. Thank you everyone. Now I need to find a "Rainfall" rock scape concept to build around the sump pump discharge pipe. IF anyone see's something similar to this let me know and grab some pics please.

Trying to decide... pond... rain garden... bog??? HELP

Comments (5)

kcmojoe
Original Author

rhodium

Related Discussions

agardenstateof_mind

duluthinbloomz4

kcmojoe
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Trying to decide... pond... rain garden... bog??? HELP

Comments (5)

kcmojoeOriginal Author

rhodium

Related Discussions

agardenstateof_mind

duluthinbloomz4

kcmojoeOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

kcmojoe
Original Author

kcmojoe
Original Author