Rain Gardens are a water management tool that will help homeowners can turn lemons into lemonade. Basically they offer a target for stormwater runoff, where it can slowly seep into the water table. What was once a drainage problem will be a beautiful focal point on your property and an environmentally responsible solution to a common problem.
Before we get into how to get to build a rain garden, though, I would like briefly about the damage that stormwater runoff causes. As rainwater moves, it picks up dirt and chemicals from the soil and transports it to the water cycle. Our drinking water and swimming areas are often the final resting place for all of these impurities. Just look at New Orleans or Maryland Chesapeake Bay to see great examples of contamination. For more information on stormwater runoff out the EPA website.
The first step in designing your new garden is to choose a location. You want at least 10 feet from home to ensure that water does not seep into your basement. If possible, it should be in the sun to speed evaporation. It is important to resist the urge to garden, where water pools, as you know it to place a drainage problem there already.
The next step is to determine your soil: Is it sandy, silty or clayey? Sandy soil is ideal for drainage, because it is the most porous, clay is the least muddy and is somewhere in between. A simple hand test can give you an idea of what type of soil you have. Scoop a small sample with your garden trowel, put the soil in your hand and squeeze. If it falls apart when you open it with your hand, you have a sandy soil, but if it stays together, and you can see the imprint of the hand lines and wrinkles, you have loamy soil. Silt is less dense than the clay but less likely to drop out of the hand than the sandy soil. You need to plug into the computer, we will discuss in a moment this information.
Next, you will want to determine the size of the garden. Your budget and time are the most important factors to consider, but the Rain Garden Alliance Garden calculator can help you figure out what your ideal property. Based on the square footage of your roof and how many downspouts will be bound to the garden, the computer will let you plan the best length, width and depth. Just a note about the computer: I think the price estimates relate to what a landscape contractor would charge to install the garden. You might be able to cut in half by the work itself
Before you start digging, you will want to color with markers mark the area and then kill what is in this part of your lawn grows. To make things more environmentally friendly, you can do so by covering the lawn with a material block the sun to do, then give it a week so that the root system die.
Now comes the part you'll really dig (pardon the pun). I suggest, invite friends to help ease the workload. If your bed is too big to dig by hand, a 4-hour rental is on a mini-excavator They run about $ 230. A rain garden should be similar to the shape of a cake tin, so that the water can gather and have a chance to soak into the ground. It is important to be the ground or the base of the garden level, so that the water does not pool at one end. The soil you dig can be used to create a berm and build the sides of your garden will be.
Now is the time to consider how the water to reach the rain garden. Any large hardware store should have a coupler that fits on your downpipe. In the same department, for 4-inch diameter, black, corrugated tubes look like. It is typically 16 feet in length and fit onto the open end of the coupling. Once you connect the two and run the pipes in the garden, you will be all set to be lead with a rain water. If you want to hide the pipes, digging trenches for them while you are digging the rain garden.
Finally we come to the fun part of this whole project: introduction of plants. The plants that you choose depends on your country depend. Plants work well for a flood recommended level, because they can handle very wet or dry conditions. Each state has a Cooperative Extension program, usually at a large college located and staffed with offices in many counties. It is an invaluable resource on a variety of topics. New York program is run by Cornell University, which offers a proposed plant list here. Whenever you are planting new plants, you want to be sure to help a whole twice the size of the root system aerate the soil and promote root growth to dig. There is an old saying that goes, landscaper "to dig a hole for $ 100 $ 50 plant."
Once all the plants are in, protect it by a layer of mulch. Remember, this is a long term project, and it will be important to keep up with the weeding in the early years.
In general, a rain garden will be installed for around $ 3 to $ 5 per square meter, if you do all the work and keep the design simple. If you hire a landscaper, the cost of a rain garden, about $ 10 to $ 12 per square foot.
Rain gardens are wonderful additions to any property where the owners are committed to protecting the earth. So go out and start planning your garden rain today!...
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