Bog Gardens
Here are some other examples of rain gardens for the home:
A variation of the rain garden, which has been implemented in the Pacific Northwest, is the 'bog garden', which employs the same principles. The one shown can manage approximately 11,000 gallons of stormwater a year!
The builder notes that a French drain could have been used for the same purpose, but it would not have been so esthetically pleasing. (total cost, $600; treatment data not yet available)
"The Bog Garden serves a 1/4-acre residential property
and collects roof runoff for infiltration and evapotranspiration with wetland
vegetation. The homeowner backfilled a lined retention pond (12-feet long by
8-feet wide by 3-feet deep) with three-way garden mix, coconut husk fiber and
peat moss. He then planted more than 30 species of native and non-native (to
the Pacific Northwest) wetland facultative plants on the site...there is no
standing water, but the soils are saturated much of the time. Unlike many similar
systems, this one promotes evaporation and transpiration."
Builder/design contact: www.lsdg.net
(This does not serve as an endorsement on the part of the USEPA or The University of Vermont and is intended solely for educational purposes)