Building a Rain Garden, Preparation

Rain Garden Under Construction

So, you want to build a rain garden to capture water? There is some preparation you need to do before you get out your spade and start rain garden building.

I’m building a rain garden as part of my Extreme Back Yard Makeover, it’s a labor of love. Meantime, my husband is building me extreme raised beds (more on that later).

Picking a Spot

I’m choosing to build my rain garden in my east back yard. There are several things to consider when choosing a spot. Firstly, a rain garden is designed to capture and slow down water and let it infiltrate the ground. Either you’re capturing roof run-off, or you’re capturing water running off landscaping, or water from your neighbor’s property. Or it could be all three. Which spots might work for you?

Rain Garden Marking

Ten Feet Away

In Rain Gardening in the South it’s recommended to keep your rain garden 10 feet away from your foundation. The green flags on the left in the photo are marking that distance. You don’t want foundation problems or basement flooding. If you’re uncomfortable with choosing a rain garden location yourself, please hire a professional.

Know What’s Under the Ground

Supposing you’ve chosen your spot, before you start digging, know what is under the ground. The red flags in the bottom right corner of the above photo of my rain garden corner indicate an underground power cable. Know what’s below, call before you dig.

Rain Garden Inflow

Inflow and Overflow

While keeping your rain garden 10 feet from your home, you also need to make sure that your home is uphill of the water which is going to gather.

On the left here you see the inflow from a downspout. I’ve placed rocks below the inflow to prevent the water from eroding away the soil at that point.

In the center you see the overflow. I don’t want the water level to back up and go closer than 10 feet away from my house. Currently the overflow is really low and will have to be raised to the correct level. I want it high enough to capture rain, and low enough to prevent too much water gathering.

Testing Rain Capture

Waiting for Rain

Here’s how my partly-constructed rain garden looked the last time it rained (same view as the first photo above). The first test worked; it’s had more work done on it since then.

Now I’m waiting for some more rain to see how the more developed garden performs. Who can resist a little rain play? I want to see where the rain gathers, how quickly it drains away, and whether the rocks I’ve placed prevent erosion as water comes out the downspout.

This has been an unusually hot and dry April in Eastern Kansas. What about your weather? How are your gardening projects going? Are you getting outside?

Related posts:

1. 5 Tips to Designing a Successful Rain Garden
2. Rain Garden Design
3. Rain Gardening in the South