Build a Rain Garden Build a Rain Garden

4. Prepare the Garden Bed • Mark out your garden area; remove existing grass or vegetation you are not keeping. • Have all utilities marked! Call 800-dig-rite (344-7483) or 811. Fluff up the soil for happy plant roots, double-dig or rototill. Add compost or Summer - May to August peat moss for greater infiltration. Avoid lots of walking or heavy equipment on • Check your garden every 1-2 weeks. Are the plants growing well? Are weeds Do you have a spot in your yard that tends to collect water? Do your downspouts wet soils, especially clay soils! and weedy grasses starting to show up run off into your yard? If so, perhaps you could build a rain garden to capture some 5. Plant Your Garden in your garden? of that rainwater runoff. This garden is a low spot that collects and infiltrates rain Spring to fall is the best time to plant. water using plants adapted to wet and moist soils. • Pull any weeds, like crab grass, from Set out the plants according to your your garden throughout the summer. Why Put in a Rain Garden? design. Move them around a bit for It is easier to pull the weeds when they • To solve an erosion, runoff or wet spot landscape issue; the look and spacing you like. Make are small. • to improve water quality; planting day a family or community • Water your garden, especially the • to manage rain water/snow melt close to where it falls; event. Water your plants. Protect the first 2 years, if St. Joseph becomes • to protect water quality in streams and rivers; and plants with shredded mulch. dry (no rain for 2-3 weeks) during the • for beauty and enjoyment. hot summer. One inch of water per Caring for Your for Rain Garden Install a Rain Garden in 5 Steps week is good. Use the water from Spring - March and April your rain barrel! 1. Find the Right Location • Maximum depth is 18 inches. • When the weather is warm, rake Fall - September to November • Near sources of stormwater runoff; • Fit the garden into your landscape. leaves and other plant material from • Continue to pull weeds and weedy at the end of a downspout • Remember, it is a GARDEN! the rain garden; put this material in a grasses. They continue to sprout and • At areas of erosion or saturated 3. Design the Garden: Choose Your Plants compost pile. grow during our nice fall weather. soils/wet spots • Pay attention to the amount of sun and • Pull any weeds starting to come up. What pests! • Away from utilities, septic tanks, soil moisture conditions. • Replace any dead plants. Divide plants • Rake leaves from the rain garden retaining walls • Consider your maintenance “comfort that are getting too big and spread out through October so the plants get 2. Test Your Soil and Size the Garden zone.” How much time do I have or too much. Plant them in other places sunlight and keep growing. • Percolation test; rain garden depth want to spend? in your yard or pass them on to a friend • Leave a layer of leaves for winter = amount of water that infiltrates in • Select trees, shrubs, flowers, or neighbor. protection when November and frosty 24 hours grasses/sedges/rushes. • Add mulch to the rain garden if needed. weather arrives.