Every now and then, you may come across a home with a variety of strategically arranged plants in their garden. If so, then it’s possible that the home has a rain garden. According to landscaping experts, rain gardens are shallow, bowl-shaped areas that can collect water runoff from various surfaces during storms. The basics aren’t the only thing you need to know about rain gardens, however. In fact, there are many more things that you should know about them, especially if you’re considering building one for your home.
In this post, Sherwood Gardens Landscape Design & Development discusses the benefits of rain gardens and how to build one.
Basement flooding is a problem that no homeowner wants to deal with. After all, not only will the water ruin the things you’re keeping there but they’re also difficult to clean up and can even compromise your home’s foundation. By having a rain garden on your property, you can easily reduce this risk as the water can be diverted there and won’t even pool around your home long enough for it to seep through the basement.
One of the ways a local landscaper can convince you to build a rain garden for your home is when they say that you can lower your water bills every month. This is actually true as rain gardens can retain enough rainwater that you won’t have to rely much on watering your plants just to keep them alive. In fact, you can even install a rainwater harvester in the rain garden to catch more water for gardening purposes.
Small animals such as birds, butterflies and other insects love a colorful rain garden and will be attracted to your home if you have one. These small animals can bring various benefits to your garden as some of them can eat or fight off any pests that can damage your rain garden plants.
Surprisingly enough, building a rain garden isn’t as complex as one may think. You’ll first have to dig out dirt from a dry area at least 10 feet downhill from the water source. As much as possible, avoid directing the runoff to a naturally low spot that’s already saturated with water. Once you’ve finished digging, replace the heavy soil with a mixture of sand, compost and topsoil to create a fast draining mixture.
After the aforementioned steps, you can pile stones and extra soil on the downhill area you created to act as a berm and create a bowl that allows water to pool at a depth of 6 inches. If water doesn’t naturally flow to your garden, however, simply dig a shallow trench from downspout to garden and line it up with landscape fabric to finish the job.
Afterwards, place perennials and native plants that tolerate large amounts of water at the center of the garden then place plants that can handle standing water around them. At the outer edges, meanwhile, consider adding plants that prefer dry soil.
Turn to Sherwood Gardens Landscape Design & Development for your home improvement needs. We are your number one provider of outdoor lighting and pool installation services. Give us a call at (405) 212-5113 or fill out our contact form to get a free consultation. We serve homeowners in Oklahahoma City, OK, and other nearby areas.
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