The garden should be dug with a flat bottom and sloping sides, resembling a pie tin. Shape: A hose or string should be laid out on the grass in an attractive pattern, such as a crescent, kidney or teardrop shape, according to the calculated size. If the water takes more than 24 hours to soak in, the soil is not suitable for a rain garden. To test simply for water infiltration: dig a hole about 6 inches deep where the proposed rain garden will go. Soil: Rain gardens can be built in sandy, loam or clay soils as determined by the "Estimating Soil Texture" worksheet. If the rain garden is more than 30 feet from the downspout, the lawn area that will be draining into the rain garden must also be considered along with the roof area. If the slope is between eight and 12 percent, build a rain garden eight inches in depth. If the slope is between five and seven percent, build the garden six to seven inches deep. Now that the slope is known, decide on the depth of the rain garden from the following options: If the slope is less than four percent, it is easiest to build a three- to five-inch deep rain garden.
#Rain garden professional#
If the slope is more than 12 percent, it is best to find another site or talk to a professional landscaper.percent, it is best to find another site or talk to a professional landscaper. Divide the height by the width and multiply the result by 100 to find the percent slope. Measure the width between the two stakes (in inches) and the height (in inches) of the downhill stake between the ground and string. Using a string level or carpenter's level, make the string horizontal and tie the string to the downhill stake at the leveled height. Tie a string to the bottom of the uphill stake and run the string to the downhill stake. Pound one stake at the uphill end of the proposed site and another stake at the downhill end of the site. The garden should be no closer than 10 feet from the building/downspout and with a slope of 1-12 percent away from the building. Water: Plants should be watered immediately after planting and twice weekly (totaling one inch) until plants are established.Įlevation/Topography: No matter what the depth of the rain garden, the goal is to keep the garden level.
#Rain garden full#
Light: Six or more hours per day of full sun are preferred. Size: Click here for size requirement instructions. Conservation Reserve Enhancement (CREP).
#Rain garden archive#
Conservation Inclusive Construction and Development Archive (CICADA).Since 1996, the city has installed over 700 boulevard rain gardens and over 60 city rain gardens as part of street reconstruction projects.įrom formal to wild, from shrubs to perennials, there are many options for rain garden designs and plants. When people talk about Maplewood rain gardens, they are usually talking about the gardens that were created as part of street reconstruction projects. Rain gardens on Maplewood street reconstruction projects.Somerhill Apartments - Southwest corner of Harvester and Ferndale.Maplewood Mall - East entrance and ring of rain gardens around the mall.Legacy Village Rain Gardens - Median along Legacy Parkway (west of Kennard).Several developers and businesses have created beautiful rain gardens in our community. Maplewood encourages developers and businesses to consider rain gardens when determining how best to manage runoff from their site. Rain gardens for developments and businesses.Get information on creating your own rain garden. Some residents are also able to collect driveway runoff or runoff from a slope. Most yards have room for a rain garden that can collect roof runoff. Maplewood encourages residents that are not on street reconstruction projects to consider installing a rain garden on their own. The city encourages the use of rain gardens on both public and private lands. It's planted with plants that can tolerate a wide range of soil moisture. A rain garden is a shallow depression that collects rain water and allows it to infiltrate. Today the city has over 700 home rain gardens and over 60 rain gardens on city land. In 1996, Maplewood installed it's first rain garden to help manage stormwater.