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Landscape Design Great Lakes Gardening

Master Rain Garden Spot (maybe?)

3 years ago

I'm taking the Washtenaw County Master Rain gardener class, but am not a homeowner. I want to install a rain garden for Growing Hope in Ypsilanti, but I need to have a more concrete plan and timeline before I can get their permission. The spot that I had in mind is...not ideal, but I picked it because I know the Growing Hope marketplace was already looking to rehab the plot. A big portion of it is right up against a building, so that's not great. Plus I have no clue what drains into it, and it has a weird little pipe with wires sticking out of it. There are some other patches of soil at the marketplace that might work better, but I don't know if Growing Hope has the same need to rehab those.

I want to get my rain gardener certificate for my own professional development and I want to help Growing Hope, but now that I've sat down to really iron things out, I'm starting to think it may not work. What do y'all think? Is this all around a no-go?

Comments (5)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
There are a couple of key factors when determining where to site a rain garden:
1. Ideally, it should be located in an area that receives the most run-off. This is most often a low point on the property or at the end of swale or dry stream bed or other feature that collects rain and run-off and directs it to that location.
2. And it needs to be located at least 10' away from any structure to avoid the potential of water damage.
beesneeds
3 years ago
I think it might be a nice little spot for a garden... but not so sure it's a good spot for a water garden.
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Here are some new angles and new thoughts. Yellow represents the downspouts. Orange represents the low, soggy spot where I believe the sump pump empties- which you could imagine just cycles the same water out and in over and over,,,right? The magenta is where a potential rain garden could go though it feels sort of unanchored or floating in the yard, from an aesthetic viewpoint, in my opinion. I included a side shot with the tape measure pulled to the 10ft mark. You can see there are window wells where the basement ends. There is a "bed" up against the length of the house with some plastic edging, plastic landscaping fabric, some landscaping stone, and some mulch. I have attempted to plant in it once before and it is clay with ancient remnants of metal garbage bits- delightful! *The Hydrological Soils map sites our plot on either Sandy Clay Loam or Clay: it is inexact. *Our roof area of this side of the house, according to the county map, measures 312ft square. 30% of this is approximately a 94ft square garden. This side is facing east, so receives strong morning sun. There is a large black walnut out of frame on the left side that would cast a summer afternoon shadow over much of the magenta oval: a nice respite from the heat for my garden.
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Katie Ferran
Original Author
3 years ago
Any thoughts on these other patches on their property? Its hard to say where water could be intercepted, because there are two drains in the parking lot that are natural low points. Everything else is pretty flat.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
There is not a lot of point in developing a rain garden unless there is a need for one. If there are parking lot drains that handle most of the run off, then I would assume the need is pretty low.........
Christopher CNC
3 years ago
Is this all around a no-go?

No. Go for it. The concepts, principles and many of the plants that you will learn in a Rain Gardener class can be applied to planting this space appropriately even if it not used to manage storm water or as a rain garden.

Take the class. Plant this garden after a good assessment of the site conditions, the markets needs and the actual human traffic patterns. Both will be good for your professional development.

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