Is this a garden intended to prevent the running off of rain water? Al

The purpose of a rain garden is to catch runoff from a parking lot, side walk, road, or roof, and filter it before it enters the ground water, storm drains, streams, etc... The plants used in a rain garden are usually perennial natives that are drought tolerant.

In the past 3 years I've built over 10 rain gardens, including 2 in my own yard. Let me know what you would like to know.

gratefulgardener3300-
Thanks for responding! I was just interested to see what plants others used, how they went about preparing the spot, how big was the area, pictures, etc...These gardens are new to me, I've read a lot of literature about them, I just wanted to hear about other peoples experience with them.

Sarah,
Your welcome. First off I want to say that there is a lot of info online and almost all that I have seen is correct. I think it's one of the few subjects that has little discrepancies between sites. Sorry I don't have links but google "rain garden" and:
-Rutgers Univ.
-Wisconsin Univ.
-Native Plant Society of New Jersey
That should get you going.

So I'll try to answer your ? in order of how I plan out a RG.

Decide where you want it and how big you want the rg to be. Then you can determine where the water will be coming from. I have a small garden (5'x2') that collects water from my shed's roof. My larger one (15'x 8') collects the water from my house's roof. If you want it small and want to collect water from your house's roof you can get it from just one side or a section of your house, like the garage.

I plan it out with a hose, just like any other garden bed. Then I dig out (for a big job I rent a sod cutter) about 3 or 6 inches depending on soil (sandy=shallow, clay=deep) and use the dirt I dig out for a SMALL berm around the garden (this is a personal preferance, you don't have to have a berm but I will explain why later).
You have to figure out how you will get the water from the gutters to your garden (swale or pipe?).

I then use mushroom soil to amend the soil because it adds lots of organic matter. Now it's time to plant!

Some favs...
-Cardinal flower
-Aster
-Bluebells
-Sedges
-Joepyeweed
-Rushes
-Iris
-Cinnamon fern
Almost anything that doesn't need water all the time but can handle "wet feet". USE NATIVES!! They evolved to handle the conditions in your area.

And as I said earlier I like having a berm because it is drier there and I plant...
-Schrubs (blueberry, inkberry, serviceberry)
-Trees (pin oak, paper birch)

Then you mulch.

Hope this gets you started. Like I said, almost all the info you need is on the web. Sirry I don't have my pics on this computer.

I love them. After that first year I never water these gardens. I weeded the first 2 years and the 3rd my garden was so dense I didn't need to weed. There is no standing water so no problems with bugs, although it creates an amazing habitat for lots of animals. I hope you decide to put one in.

Thanks! That was a big help! I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I can't wait to get it put in!!!
Sarah

greatfulgardner3300
Never heard of a rain garden before. After reading your posting it sounds like a bog garden but maybe dryer? The flower list sounds like the list for the bog garden. I would like to build one where the creek overflows in early spring.

gmom2-6boys
Sharon

Hi rain garden enthusiasts. I am going to invite my Master Rain Gardener class to post in the Great Lakes Gardening forum here. Please come and help out newbie rain gardeners! I'd love your support and help from experienced gardeners. Sometimes the questions are general gardening, like how to remove sod, or more rain-garden-specific. Your comments are welcome!