Rain Gardens

Things you can do in your garden and neighbourhood to prevent flooding.

Water is no longer an unlimited, cheap, and controlled commodity but, on some continents, can be scarce and, on others, an unpredictable, destructive, and sometimes deadly element (Dunnett and Clayden, 2007:9). In the UK, weather extremes are less common but are becoming more so, and therefore it is important to learn how water behaves in our natural surroundings so that we can tackle climate change events in an environmentally responsible and positive way. Using simple methods, we can design our gardens and landscapes to make a difference in how water is managed and how our buildings are tied together in their surrounding environment. One way to add a beautiful feature to your garden, which will also bring other environmental benefits, is to design and install a rain garden.

A rain garden is technically a planted depression, designed to take excess water run-off from a house or other building and its associated landscape. This term now includes water in all forms, multi-faceted with many benefits, both still and moving, below and above ground, with layered planting and opportunities to experience our gardens and larger designed landscapes (Dunnett and Clayden, 2007:13). The idea is to manage water where it falls on the ground and not move the problem downstream or into the domestic drainage system.

Rain gardens promote planting, which is an opportunity to increase wildlife and biodiversity. Introducing plants, water, and soil into the built environment not only increases wildlife but reduces energy use and pollution as it captures atmospheric pollutants in leaf canopies and the soil. Low-impact design using water bioretention controls both the quality and quantity of water within the landscape, using the chemical, biological, and physical properties of soils, microbes, and plants (Dunnett and Clayden, 2007:38).

Rain gardens also provide visual and sensory pleasure, they can be designed for play and are good for the garden microclimate, cooling the summer landscape. A mosaic of different types of habitat, such as woodland, scrub, grasslands, and wetlands, makes the most effective environment for wildlife, and rain gardens can be integrated effectively into these habitats, contributing to a sense of place and local distinctiveness.

Disconnecting downpipes and rerouting runoff to lawns, planting swales, retention ponds, rain gardens, water tanks, and rain butts can help reduce the impact on our drainage system and help prevent flooding.

Bibliography:

Dunnett, N and Clayden, A (2007) Rain Gardens: Managing water sustainably in the garden and designed landscape (1st Ed) Portland:Timber Press

Images

1. Ocean.flynn (2023) Rain garden in Calgary, Alberta harvesting rainwater from roof Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license CC BY 2.0 At: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Parkdale%2C_Calgary_LID_rain_garden.jpg (Accessed 10.12.2024)
2. Volkening A, (2010) Bioretention / bioswale in median of Grange Avenue in Greendale, Wisconsin Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license CC BY 2.0 At: https://live.staticflickr.com/8178/7994702746_0b0452f22b_b.jpg  (Accessed 11.12.2024)
3. Reed, D, (2011) Powhatan Springs Rain Garden Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license CC BY 2.0 At: https://live.staticflickr.com/6022/6016338950_05c3988d0a_b.jpg (Accessed 11.12.2024)