Rain Gardens / REFS
Below are examples of rain gardens. This stormwater treatment solution can be designed to manage a wide range of runoff volumes and offers a stylish remedy!
This garden is courtesy of The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Virtual Tour DNR.Wi.Gov)
This garden is in Maplewood, Minn. (See: Maplewood, Rainwater Gardens)
There are several other Rain Garden planting and overview references such as:
The Burnsville Rainwater Gardens in Minnesota. Tells us how it was constructed and how it worked.
Haddam Research/Demonstration Rain Garden
Bringing Garden Amenities into Your Neighborhood - a somewhat similar approach based on alternative techniques. "The purpose of this guidebook is to illustrate how typical suburban streets and neighborhoods can be retrofit to build signature neighborhood amenities that contribute to urban biodiversity and manage stormwater inexpensively."
The Brooklyn, N.Y. Botanical Garden
The California Stormwater BMP Handbook
Metropolitan Council, St. Paul, Mn
The Prince George County, Md. Bioretention Plant List
The Vermont Stormwater Manual (for design and indigenous plant list)
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources:
- "Build your own Rain Garden Manual"
- Further links to raingarden sites, courtesy of the Wisconsin DNR
Here are some quick pointers from the West Michigan site, listed above:
"For sandy soil, your rain garden should be 20-30% of the drain area. For example, if your roof and driveway measures 1200 square feet and all the rain from them will be used, your rain garden should be 20 to 30% of that, or 240-360 square feet. (ex: 10’ X 24’)
For clay soil, your rain garden should be about 60% of the drain area (Clay absorbs water very poorly; the varieties of rain garden plants that do well in clay take at least three years to get established. Soil replacement may be the best choice in clay soils).
If you improve your soil drainage and replace your soil with rain garden mix (50-60% sand, 20-30% topsoil, 20-30% compost), your rain garden should generally be about 20-30% of the square footage of your drain area.
Rain gardens for single-family homes will typically range from 150 to 400 square feet. But remember; any size rain garden, even a small one, will contribute to solving local water pollution problems. It will also be a lovely addition to your landscape."