Welcome Master Rain Gardener students!
Hi Gentle Master Rain Gardener students.
You are in the right place! This is the forum where you will ask
for advice about your rain garden. But first, introduce yourself by
replying to this thread. Glad to meet you!
When you are ready to actually post some
photos of your potential spot for a rain garden, start a new thread here in the
Great Lakes Gardening forum. Then, MRG alumni, or myself, or
knowledgeable gardeners here will answer your questions. Next, when you post
your plans and plant lists - do it in the same thread that you started
in. Then your whole plan will be in one place and I won't be totally
confused. Thank you very kindly for preserving my sanity. ;)
Looking forward to talking with you about your
exciting garden plans! Welcome.
Comments (13)
Susan Bryan
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Mystery Rain Garden Plant at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Comments (3)If you are interested in rain gardens, I am going to invite my Master Rain Gardener class to post in the Great Lakes Gardening forum here. Please come and help out newbie rain gardeners! I'd love your support and help from experienced gardeners. Sometimes the questions are general gardening, like how to remove sod, or other general questions. Your comments are welcome!...See MoreRain Garden Class
Comments (3)Cricket, It would have been wonderful if you could have made it. I think we are just on the cusp of these practices being much more widely implimented; even on an institutional and municipal scale. Locally, St. Ambrose University in Davenport, is doing some very creative things to address some very old, lingering storm water issues that have plagued their campus (and everyone down stream from them) for years. I also hear about good things at Grinnell College. The folks in Iowa City are starting to also make some inroads. I keep hearing about their "Peninsula Project". The concept is quite simple: use gravity to transport the storm water already collected by your gutters and coax it into an area where it has a bit of time to soak in. The tricky part (as with any garden) is making it visually appealing throughout the entire year. I constructed three entirely different types of rain gardens to experiment with planting schemes -- the technical stuff is pretty straightforward. One of the planting schemes was a recommended planting design straight out of the book. Without a doubt, in the "looks department", it comes in dead last -- not ugly but it won't bubble your hormones either. In talking with the architect and his associate designer after class, we all concluded that the designs coming from the "experts" use far too many different plants. When one limits the pallet to perhaps five or six different plants and creates drifts, the effect is much more pleasing. I can show that principle when comparing my own gardens. Anyway, the best information on this topic will not be found in books but rather in a very nice, 32 page booklet put out by the University of Wisconsin. I ordered these and handed them out at class. However, the very same booklet is online in PDF format, which anyone can download for free. It is non technical and easy to understand with lots of great pictures and diagrams to help one understand. It was created expressly for the average home owner. IronBelly Here is a link that might be useful: Rain Garden manual...See MoreCan a rain garden tackle a small lake?
Comments (11)Hi all. I see many yards like this! Actually, people with yards like this will find me at some point. It is just a matter of time. Some questions for you so you can solve your problem with rain gardens: 1. Does the ponding occur anywhere near your house? Within 10' of the house? Do you get water in the basement? If yes, go to #2, if no, go to #3. 2. You need to get the land to slope *away* from the house. Either place soil next to the house so it slopes AWAY, (this can be limited by where the siding/brick starts. Don't pile soil up against the siding/brick.) You may need to extend the waterproof coating on your foundation to extend up to the new top-of-soil. And/or, you can dig a new low-point at a location that is farther away from your house. Water flows downhill. Make sure downhill is away from the house, not toward it. 3. If your ponding occurs in spots that you think would be nice places for perennial beds, shrubs, or trees - you already have a rain garden! You just have the wrong plants. :) Plant some from this list: http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/drain_commissioner/dc_webWaterQuality/rain-gardens/volunteer-information-1/rain-garden-plants-tested-in-washtenaw-county 4. If the ponding occurs in spots you don't want to plant a garden bed/shrubs/trees, but rather, where you would rather have grass - you can "sculpt" the land so that you get up to 6" deep of water in garden beds, while keeping the lawn grass high and dry. That said - the water has to go somewhere! So the new beds have to be big enough to accommodate the water that occurs on your property. Water happens. This is nature, people. And actually, wet is a *lot* easier to garden than dry. Think dry shade - yuk! Once you have a mix of perennials, trees, and shrubs that are sucking up water, plus some compost mixed in - the water will soak in! Compost + plants get the water to soak in much faster than just plain developer soil. Give it a try! Post your results here. :) I'd love to see photos....See MoreRain Garden site - Master Rain Garden Class
Comments (1)Ann, I'm so glad that you are taking the class! I noticed your name while answering questions but just put it together that you are the teacher I talked to a few months back about rain gardens at your school. Let me know if you would like copies of the lessons I have taught about rain gardens, water quality, stormwater and designing a garden....See MoreSusan Bryan
7 years ago
Jan
7 years agooldtrek
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI may be posting twice. My garden area would be at a friend's home with roof drain issues. Two locations have downspouts and plastic pipes directing water across the yard. The home owners would like to capture the water in two small gardens to enhance their yard. I envision a long, narrow bed along the north edge of the house and expanding the natural swale in the center of the yard, making it deeper and a bit wider. If any ponding would occur it would be short lived. Mike Stifler Kalamazoo
- PRO
RW Harrison
7 years ago kpittsle
7 years agoUser
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoHi. I'm Pat. I live in downtown Ann Arbor within the Allen Creek floodplain. I have 2 rain garden spots I am considering.
One would be fairly long and narrow, and would need to take in the front third of the house's roof runoff:
It's got quite a slope, and this would be a fabulous way to get rid of a very scruffy lawn the has been infiltrated with an unmowable sedge.
The other spot would take up part of an existing flower bed and a small patch of lawn--basically I would like it to go driveway to driveway. My neighbors to the north are already interested in this process. They have drainage issues.
What you cannot really see in this picture is the enormous silver maple in the yard behind this one that shades a third each of their yard, my yard, and my neighbor's house to the north.
One question that came to mind yesterday while listening to the discussion of distance from house, is how this would apply to dry wells. I had one put in several years ago, and I now suspect it may be contributing to the damp corner in the basement.
Susan Bryan
7 years agoJan
7 years agoKevin McGuinness
7 years ago
Jan