My neighborhood's rain garden finally worked after a storm last week

We installed it back in April with a local group, and every big rain since then just flooded the corner anyway. Last Tuesday we got 3 inches in 4 hours and the water actually stayed in the basin and drained within an hour. Has anyone else seen their small project pay off after months of wondering if it was a waste?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_piper1mo ago

I remember reading a study from the University of Wisconsin that said rain gardens can take up to three growing seasons to really hit their stride, so yours is right on track. @evahenderson is absolutely right that the drainage time will shift as the soil settles and roots grow deeper. My neighbor's garden was flooding like crazy for the first year, then last spring after a big 2 inch downpour it held everything and dried out in like 20 minutes flat. The key was they added more switchgrass and coneflowers, which suck up way more water than the basic shrubs they started with.

evahenderson1mo ago

Ah, "worked" - I mean, it did, but you're being generous there. Actually the water didn't stay in the basin for an hour, it drained in about 45 minutes if you timed it right. That's still good though, especially for a first real test. I've got a similar rain garden I put in two years ago and the first few storms were a total washout (literally, ha). It took a full season of tweaking the soil mix and adding more native plants with deep roots before it really started doing its job. So yeah, your project is definitely paying off, just don't get too attached to that "one hour" number - the drainage time will change as the plants fill in and the soil settles.

blakestone1mo ago

Ngl I came across something from a landscaping blog that said rain gardens basically act like a sponge that learns over time, and your results back that up completely. @the_piper is spot on about those deeper roots changing everything, switchgrass especially seems to be the magic fix for a lot of people's drainage issues. Sounds like you're already ahead of the curve if it's holding up after two years.