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Rain Garden AAI Presentation
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Rain Gardens
Rain gardens are • Attractive
• Landscaped areas shaped to capture runoff
• Planted with perennial native plants that do not
mind getting "wet feet"
• Built in a shape that allows
water to percolate
• Amazingly beneficial
Collect
Runoff
&
Pollution
Beautifully
Rain gardens
• Enhance the beauty of
yards and communities
• Provide habitat for birds • Provide habitat for birds
and butterflies
• Help keep water clean by
filtering storm water
• Help alleviate flooding
problems
Step 1: Locate
and Prepare
the Site
• Pick a site for your garden that tends to collect water • Pick a site for your garden that tends to collect water or where runoff from your driveway or downspout can be diverted into it
• Your rain garden should be at least 10 feet away from foundations, underground utilities, and drainfields
• You can also calculate the best spot(s) – there’s lots of help out there!
For Best Results …
Step 2: Your
Design - Select
Your Plants!
» For best results, native plants suitable for your garden’s conditions
» Select a variety of native flowers, ferns, grasses, shrubs and small
trees that will provide color and interest throughout the season
» Group plants together for the most impact; estimate one small plant
per square foot
» Plants also provide food and habitat for birds, butterflies and bees.
• There are many Resources for Garden Design and Plants
• http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/der/riverways/pdf/raingardenfactsheet.pdf
A variety of choiceschoices
Step 3:
Prepare
your Site
� Lay out a rope or garden hose in the shape desired as a guide for diggingguide for digging
� Create the “saucer” contour of the garden. For best infiltration, the bottom of the garden should be level
� Dig the garden; the depth of the depression is generally from 4 to 8” (but sometimes as much as 12”)
� Introduce sand, gravel, peat, etc, that are needed to give proper drainage
� Create a swale to direct water into the garden from a downspout or pavement
Step 4: Get
Out Your
Gloves and
Tools!
�Amend the soil to allow the rain garden to both �Amend the soil to allow the rain garden to both evaporate and slowly drain rain waters
� A roto-tiller or larger equipment may be required
�Volunteers needing to fulfill scout or school service projects may be ready and willing to assist if you’re doing a rain garden for a school, church, or town building!
Step 4:
Maintaining
Your Rain
Garden
Rain Gardens are Easy to Maintain but are not Maintenance Free
� During the first two or three years water and replace plants that did not survive, and/or rearrange plants to wetter or dryer areas if needed.
� Mulch annually to keep soil moist and allow easy infiltration of rain water
2-3 inches of mulch every spring. Use a natural, un-dyed mulch.
� Weed annuallyKeep the plant community diverse and attractive, periodically clear dead vegetation and any debris
Opportunities Abound!
One of my favorites – center of cul de sac!
Opportunities -
Wherever Cars are Parked!
See a Garden in Massachusetts, e.g.:
• Cohasset: Water
Treatment Plant King St.;
along Pond & Arrowood
Streets.
• Plymouth: Town Hall,
Lincoln St.; Stephens
Field; Plimoth
Plantation
• Hull: Weir River Estuary
Center
• Ipswich: IRWA, County
Rd; Partridge Place
• Leominster: Trustees of
Reservations, Lindell Ave.
• Scituate: Scituate High
School; Hughey Rd.
• Wilmington: Eleven
gardens along Silver
Lake Avenue, near Silver
Lake Beach
Many Resources, here’s a few!
• http://www.greenscapes.org/Raingardens
• http://www.greenscapes.org/Page-567.html
• http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/t
emplates.htm
• http://www.thejonahcenter.org/milardogarden.php• http://www.thejonahcenter.org/milardogarden.php
• http://www.groundwater.org/ta/raingardens.html
• http://rainkc.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.search/index.h
tm
• http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/la/la_005.cfm
• http://learningstore.uwex.edu/Rain-Gardens-A-How-to-
Manual-for-Homeowners-P372C82.aspx
• http://www.for-wild.org/download/rainclay/rainclay.html
Opportunities – Adopt an Island
Rain Garden?!?