Rain Gardens are Popular!

Once most of the vegetable gardens were in and a couple bigger projects were completed, the focus of work shifted to rain gardens.

Rain Gardens are yard features focused on reducing the immediate surge of storm water during rains.  They also are built for filtering pollutants and providing pollinator habitat.  With cost share available from many different cities and other groups, they are also growing in popularity.

More on Rain Gardens and Cost Sharing Incentives here!

Organizations like the Easter Lake Watershed Project can provide qualifying homeowners with significant cost share.  As part of the Easter Lake Watershed Project, residents, businesses, and other landowners  located within the watershed are eligible for 75% cost-share for rain gardens. Contact the watershed coordinator for more information. We were actually there last week on a patio and rain garden installation, with a couple more in the wings.

Easter Lake Watershed Project Rain Garden

I was excited the Polk County S&WCD shared some of my work on their Facebook page!

This rain garden is right in the front yard of this Waukee home.  Photos include

The newly finished rain garden, 

as the native plants first take off in the summer,
highlighting the armored spillway for major rains,

and following a late summer rain event.

You need to be quick for a photo, as the basins are designed to empty over 12-24 hours.

With a short duration of water in the basins they cannot breed mosquitoes.

Click HERE for more information on Waukee's Stormwater BMP program

This project in Ankeny had a few challenges - many, many roots from the former tree, and to bore the downspout tile under the sidewalk.

before

The basin was adjusted for the stump, but remained near to the original design.

Basin sculpting complete

You can see the boulders that disrupt water flow around the inlet

Newly Finished Ankeny Rain Garden

Rain Garden retaining stormwater, reducing stress on municipal facilities

Ankeny also has a Stormwater BMP program, more information click HERE

I checked in with a customer in Johnston (more info) from last season for any learning opportunities about Rain Gardens to share:

The garden is looking great. In general the garden is very low maintenance, I remove weeds once I a while and had to replenish the mulch after the last big rain. I cannot tell you much about the amount of pollinators visiting because of the garden location; I guess I need to set up a little bench or something near it and watch. What I love the most it's looking at the garden after a big rain.  It does gets full  of water which attracts mallards in the spring (that took me by surprise) and drains slowly but by the same day is empty even in very heavy rains.

Several more are currently in the works, both consultations and design and installations!  If you are interested stormwater best managment practices Abundant Design can help you with your projects!

Enjoy the Fall weather!

Rain Barrels are great, but...

 

"...they're not growing their own food. Like the 55 gallon rain barrel, they deceive themselves by thinking that by toying with inadequately designed rainwater collection systems...

 

Thirty five thousand gallons of rain falls off my roof but I want to hold fast to the cute idea that a little 55 gallon barrel will hold it all and I can feel like I've saved the world. That’s simply poor design and living through your concepts rather than your observations." 

 

          -Mark Shepard in an  interview with Chuck Burr at SOPI Permaculture.

 

 

While not all of us can have a 100+ acre Permaculture farm that utilizes the landscape to harvest rain water, we can gain some insight from Mark's comments.  When you consider the amount of rain we typically get in central Iowa and the surface area of our roofs, you realize that we cannot hope to contain it all in one, or even several, 55 or 75 gallon rain barrels (see calculator).  Ideally you would have several modified 275gal. Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) which can be an eyesore if not properly disguised and take up a large footprint.

 

What we can do to bridge the gap in our urban/suburban rain water harvesting systems is to utilize the rain barrel as storage for use in our potted plants, etc. that we want to benefit from using rain water over the municipal water supply. More importantly, though, we want to manage the overflow so we can use the rain to maintain soil moisture for longer periods of time. 

 

There are several ways we can Divert, Disperse & Conserve the overflow to our planting areas:

• This picture below is of my prototype rain catchment system.  It utilizes a smaller barrel and simple overflow into 4" drainage tile (8' solid to get away from the foundation, then 16' perforated to allow the overflow to slowly drain into our mini-forest garden. 

 

• This next system utilizes a more intricate overflow irrigation system.  The overflow drained into a series of PVC pipes that were set-up with multiple junctions, runs and 1/4" drainage holes that allowed the overflow to go to targeted areas of the planting.  The tricky part was running a split under the walking path and back up into the "island".  Make sure your system completely drains all water so the lines will not freeze and burst in winter.

Before hiding the barrel behind a trellis

Dividing the overflow to multiple areas



The lower levels prior to covering PVC with straw 

•  Another way to enhance water retention is through mulching.  Mulching keeps direct sunlight from heating and drying the soil.  It also holds a layer of moist air that won't blow away in drying breezes and steal moisture away. 

• "Swales on Contour" will also slow runoff and allow it to sink into the soil.  Typically swales in modern construction flow with the slope of the land to route rainfall quickly to drainage ditches, rivers and streams.  Two days after a rain suburban homeowners are out with the sprinklers trying to keep the grass green.  With swales on contour, the "ditch" runs across the slope where the runoff slows, giving it time to percolate into the soil.

I hope this post gives you ideas for ways you can go beyond the rain barrel.  If you have any questions feel free to post in the comments section below.  Or if you would like to have a rain catchment system installed at your home send me an email!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog,
Jeff

Easter Lake Rain Campaign Video

Here's a fun video we helped make with the Rain Campaign to showcase rain gardens as a Stormwater Best Management Practice.  Their videos help encourage homeowners to consider rain gardens and other best management practices to help with stormwater runoff mitigation and to help them with potential problems in their own yards - erosion, soggy areas, etc.

We had already been working with the homeowners in conjunction with the Easter Lake Watershed coordinator to help them with their yard issues and reduce the storm surge into the lake.  The following pictures show the flooding and poor drainage they were dealing with in their yard.  You can also see Easter Lake behind the trees and shrubs.

Their pipe was a short-term fix, and definitely not their favorite.

Watch the video here, with project photos following.

Rain Gardens (youtube.com)

The laser level helps us get the grading just right

Berms constructed, amended soil blend added

Mulching the fresh planting helps retain soil moisture and will feed the soil as it breaks down.  The basins are mulched lightly to prevent smothering of young plants when the basin fills and empties.

 

After photos of the dry stream which collects and moves rainwater from the downspouts to the basin.

The basin captures and infiltrates the first 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" of any rain event.  90% of historical rains for our area are under this amount. If we get more rain than that, the excess will be slowed and filtered through the native plants, and slowly go over the armored overflow.

Rain Garden - After

This picture is from the second year, and you can see the plant growth, adaptation and personal touches.  We designed the planting to be shade tolerant initially, yet take advantage of the future sunshine too - the park was planning restoration of the native savannah surrounding the lake.  Lots fewer, but quality tree species.

This year (year 3) we were doing another project nearby and were invited to come check it out.  After 2 years you can see continued adaptation and growth (although earlier in the season), and we happened to catch it filled with rain.

Stay tuned for more videos!

New Rain Garden Care Guide

Thank you for reading our care and maintenance tips for your new, current or future rain garden.  A big Thank You if you chose Abundant Design to design and/or install your rain garden!

Rain Garden Care-

After the First Few Rains

-If the rain garden basin fails to drain within a day or two following rains, contact us or your contractor immediately.  There are some tricks to help with infiltration or downspouts may need diverted until plants establish.  A last resort would be to remove a portion of the berm so it does not retain excess water, until plants establish, then rebuild the berm or spillway later.

-If it leaks/overflows anywhere besides the armored spillway, contact us or your contractor immediately.  The low spots need to be fixed to prevent erosion damage.

-Check the plants and mulch to make sure the mulch isn't covering any new plants or clogging your stand pipe/overflow if you have one.  Adjust the mulch as needed.

The First Season(s)

-Water the rain garden every day at first, every couple days the first week or two, every three to four days for the next few weeks, then as needed if we go without rain or they look droopy.  This is important as the young plants have not yet developed the deep root systems they need to thrive.  After the first season it should only need watering during extended dry spells.

-If you had your downspouts piped to the rain garden, water the trenching scar to help turf recover.

-Controlling the weeds the first year or two will help the plants thrive and fill in.  We recommenced pulling weeds instead of chemical control. Just be careful not to disturb the roots of young desirable plants.  The edges can be invaded by turf grass or creeping lawn weeds.  A good edging material will prevent and slow this invasion.  

Is your city providing Rebates?  The RAIN CAMPAIGN is Live!

Ongoing Care

-If plants die, replace as needed for aesthetics as well as function

-As the rain garden matures, watch for settling or erosion of the berm(s)

-Your plants should dominate the space.  Weeds that appear should be spindly and easy to pull.  'Weed trees' like mulberry, maple and elm, will be the biggest threat once established.  Pull as needed.

Enjoy your new runoff filtering, flood mitigating, pollinator feeding water feature!

Secluded Woodland Oasis & Gardens

After their new addition was built, these Urbandale homeowners saw it as their chance to include some new outdoor elements they wanted instead of just repairing the construction damage.

Patio, bench wall, garden beds and stream behind

It included a patio with bench walls and a firepit, vegetable and herb gardens.  A dry stream directs stormwater runoff to a pair of rain gardens.

Upper rain garden basin ready for planting

Bridge set over the rain garden outlet
to access the existing woodland paths

In the production area, herb beds run along the access path at ground level and are just at the edge of the available sunshine.  The raised vegetable beds benefit from being a bit farther away from the house's shadow, and being elevated helps to get more sun on them too.  Trellises were also added for some vertical growing space.  

The block used on these beds is durable, looks great
and compliments the patio and bench walls!

The garden beds were going in near an existing Hackberry tree and I was concerned about tree roots invading and stealing water and nutrients from them.  

See how we addressed the Tree Root issue HERE!

A Rain Barrel catches rain for use in the gardens

The rain barrel overflows into the downspout drain that connects to the lower rain garden basin behind the raised beds.  Shade loving plants were predominantly used throughout the rain garden plantings - columbine, woodland phlox, sedges and wild geranium.  A few pockets got more sun, so we could try for some more color using part sun and native savannah plants - cardinal flower and bee balm.

Thanks to Beemer Landscaping on the hardscaping assist!

We also cut and removed lots of invasive honeysuckle filling several dump trailers worth.

Reusing saved materials was high on the list of customer desires.  The patio stone was selected to match pavers leftover from a previous landscaping project.  These existing pavers were incorporated into the access path to the side yard, gardens and rain barrel.

Leftover pavers and stone from a previous
project we used for edging and steppers

Several pallets of assorted limestone served as edging along the access path above, and a walking path expansion loop through the side yard along a new planting bed and retaining wall.

Dark trap rock contrasts well against pale limestone,
but it's dusty!

The construction access was cleared of wood chips last fall.  After the temporary driveway was used for a needed tree removal, it was dormant seeded this Winter with a customized woodland sedge and wildflower mix.  Timing was perfect with 4" of snow falling that night.

We love how it has turned out so far, and excited for fresh growth and blooms this season!

Rain Garden in Action

This rain garden was finished a couple weeks ago in Des Moines.

Rain garden ready for runoff

Within a few days we had a good heavy rain and the customer sent me these photo updates.  At 5am the customer was watching water go over the emergency spillway.  This happens when it's rains more than it would 90 percent of the time.  The spillways are installed to maintain the integrity of the construction and designed to prevent point erosion.

Is your city providing Rebates?  The RAIN CAMPAIGN is Live!

Here is the garden at 9am holding a good amount of storm water from rushing into the nearby lake where it would increase the storm surge, along with erosion/sediment and other potential pollutants.

9am  quite a bit of water

By Noon some water had infiltrated but still a lot in there.  Plants are selected for their ability to thrive in both wet and dry conditions.

Noon   water line is dropping

The mulch is still wet at 4pm.  There are probably a few puddles underneath as well.

4pm    only a few puddles and wet mulch

By the next morning the water had infiltrated into the soil and ground water. Now it can slowly make its way to Easter Lake through the water table.

Following morning

This site had passed the infiltration test but still had a fair amount of clay in the soil, so I was happy to see it work right out of the gate.

The Easter Lake Watershed Project even shared the great pictures and this story on Facebook

Check out these photos to see the power of a rain garden!

"10 days ago this rain garden was installed within the Easter Lake Watershed. The 160 SF rain garden temporarily ponds stormwater runoff from a 1405 SF rooftop area. By capturing and helping the water naturally soak into the ground, we reduce runoff and drainage issues in the yard and help to improve water quality downstream in Easter Lake! Our estimates show that this garden can help reduce about 27,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each year! We can’t wait to see this pollinator friendly garden grow!"

If you would like more information about rain gardens and other Stormwater Best Management Practices visit RainCampaign.org or contact us today for a consultation.

Before

Joe finishing up the mulch