What is a Rain Garden?

rain garden in bloom

Rain gardens are a fun way to help protect your community's natural waterways. A rain garden is an area of your property that functions as a natural buffer for stormwater flow. The garden's concave (or "bowl") shape and spongy mulch allow rainwater to be collected and slowly filtered into the earth.

Rain gardens are planted with native bushes, plants and flowers. The deep roots of a native plant help the soil absorb rain water along with any nutrients or pollutants. This water would otherwise simply runoff into local rivers and stream and cause flooding and pollution problems.

How to Make a Rain Garden

Step 1: Choose a place where lots of water flows during storms.
Step 2: Create a bowl–shaped depression.
Step 3: Plant native shrubs and wildflowers that have deep roots.
Step 4: Cover them in spongy mulch.
Step 5: Watch your garden grow!

A Beautiful Solution to Pollution

Get larger view with explanation of schematic at right.

Your rain garden will help to control runoff into nearby storm drains, creeks and streams. Rain gardens are known as a "beautiful solution to pollution!"

Water will stand in a rain garden no longer than 48 hours after the rain stops. Mosquitoes cannot complete their breeding cycle in this length of time, so a rain garden should not increase mosquito populations.