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Landscape Design Great Lakes Gardening

Master Rain Gardener - Proposed sites

3 years ago

I'm hoping to propose a rain garden plan to my landlord. I would install it to earn my Master Rain Gardener Certificate for my own career development. He would like to remedy the soggy backyard, so he is already looking to work with me and spend some money. The sump pump is triggered during most summer rain events. I proposed the idea of a rain garden in the orange oval area, which is a low area that pools water. He countered with his idea of dumping a lot of soil on the orange area to create a slope away from the house and re-seeding it with grass.

He is a reasonable guy who could potentially be swayed by a professional proposal for the orange area. An alternative spot could be within the strips of old concrete- the area(s) marked in blue (I might only propose one to be planted because the digging will probably be awful). This would require a longer reach for maybe some seasonal tubing connected to the house downspout. By the way, the downspout pictured is new as of this fall; all of the water was formerly routed to the far left-out of frame- of where that new one is now. I believe the orange area floods because the sump pump empties there.

The area marked in red is a concrete slab with a sloped edge that channels rain water from its impermeable surface to the blue strips. The area in green behind that is a gravel garden, that is quite permeable, where a small garage used to stand. Another aside: this house is 100 years old and the oldest in our neighborhood. Lets hope I find some treasure while digging.

The top picture is from a camera mounted on the house. The second photo is taken from the same angle on the ground. The third photo is facing the house. The orange area would line up with the horizontal window/downspout /meters in the third photo.

Please opine! Are you rooting for plan 'O'range or plan 'B'lue?

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Comments (5)

Sigrid
3 years ago
Blue looks like a high point in your yard. I'd put it where the sog is. If the landlord wants a neater outline, put it near the edge of the yard to the right. That said, I'm finding it hard to follow all the pics because they seem to be taken from different angles.
Patricia Dale
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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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mindshift
3 years ago
The Missouri Botanical Garden has this ARTICLE on creating a rain garden. The rectangles below Flowchart provide particular information.
Susan Bryan
2 years ago
Good thoughts Patricia!

Is the sog area in an inconvenient area? If it is *right* in the way of life, than it is ok to move it. Either O'range, if that would make life better, or B'lue. :)

If you do like your landlord says, and get the water to move away from the house - (which is always good!) Where will it go? Good to get that defined. Then you can put the rain garden there. Or, trouble shoot before it goes there, and you realize it is shoving the water toward your neighbor's basement . . . for example. So take a gander over that 'away, and make sure that isn't the result.
l pinkmountain
2 years ago
You want a rain garden at least 8 feet away from your house, ten is probably better. And in a spot where you won't be tripping over the downspouts. You can bury them but that is a ton of work. Ask me how I know . . .

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