After such a long, snow and ice, below freezing forever kind of Winter, I am really looking forward to the things of Spring. I enjoy seeing the birds, bees, and butterflies and all of the beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs that make our communities beautiful. If you enjoy these things also, one way you can attract more of them to your yard and help reduce rain water runoff is to build a rain garden. What is a rain garden you ask?
A rain garden is any man made landscape feature that creates a depression for the collection of stormwater runoff to be collected and used to maintain moisture tolerant plants. Rain gardens are unique in that by reducing stormwater runoff you develop an environment that supports many plants that like wet areas, and also attracts pollinators such as butterflies and hummingbirds too.
It’s not just pretty flowers and beautiful butterflies though. Rain gardens help to reduce the excessive amounts of water that densely populated urban spaces cause. These waters that are captured would otherwise cause flooding, water contamination and soil erosion if allowed to run to creeks and storm sewers.
Rain gardens effectively collect excess runoff and allow it to filter through the soils back into the water table without causing erosion, added silt or fertilizer runoff into our lakes, creeks and rivers. What an amazing way to do your part in improving the community you live in, and it can be a simple garden or as expansive as you desire.
Rain Garden
I’m hoping that this may have inspired you to look into possibly developing a rain garden in your yard this Spring and create a place you can enjoy the beauty of nature while making a difference in your community too. If you found this article inspiring and useful please share it with others by clicking on one of the social media buttons below and help others discover rain gardens too.
~ Michael
White Horticulture 