Garden Tips Newsletter
All About Rain Gardens
October 5, 2009
For those of us living in areas of heavy rainfall the last few weeks, we have 'rain gardens' all over our landscape! Seriously, it’s a good bet that you know the areas of the landscape where water tends to pool after a heavy rain. These areas could be a good site for a rain garden. What exactly is a rain garden? It’s a garden that captures water runoff and lets it percolate into the soil instead of running into storm drains, ditches and other drainage areas.
The benefits of having a rain garden on your property are numerous. It is a garden, so it is an attractive addition to the landscape. It keeps water on your site, so you are recycling a natural resource. It acts as a natural filter to cleanse and recharge water aquifers. Channeling water from house gutters into a rain garden can prevent erosion that might otherwise occur where downspouts are located. Having a rain garden can turn what could be an unattractive low area of the landscape into a diverse and attractive garden with plants that can attract butterflies, bees, and other wildlife.
For more detailed information on plants suitable for a rain garden, construction information and calculations check out the rain garden Web site on the Mississippi State University Extension Service Web site.
Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes Garden Tips weekly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.