Of course the materials and the requirements may be different in different areas of the country. This is meant to be an overview of the process. Thanks for watching! Stick around to the end of the video to see two large rain gardens in Raleigh.
Zone 5B here, but I love getting amped about the gardening season seeing your early spring. I loved this video, and it helped me finally win an argument with my gf about what to do about our drainage pipe situation. We're on top of a hill near a large river, so there really isn't an issue with drainage - though we do get plenty of rain. The neighbour behind me, downhill, does get a bit of accumulation on their back yard (yards shaped like pie pieces from the road, more or less). We have a natural bowl depression in the landscape from a tree that I assume was original to the house ('79), gone before we arrived but the stump remains at the bottom. In theory, the hole is pre-dug for me - would you get that stump ground up/removed before installing, or if it's deep enough below the grade would you just bury it and let it decompose? Really love the channel Jim!
Speaking articulately, effectively, informatively, is not a skill every man or woman has, that's for certain. Jim: You are a natural teacher, speaker, informer, explainer -- THANK GOODNESS!
I built a rain garden last year. You should calculate how much water you intend to collect from the surface area of your roof. This will determine the size of the garden needed and prevent complete overflow every time it rains. Ideally the garden should hold the water. If you intend to build a rain garden in your area, I'd recommend checking out Washington State University's resources on building a rain garden. It is focused for the Pacific Northwest, however, the same principles will apply to your region. They have detailed steps in determining the size of the garden needed based on the size of your roof. I am glad to see these people built a rain garden! Native plants will take off there. Glad these people made the right decision.
Very interesting, thank you! Would love to see this later in in the year if they will have you back. 😉 The whole subject of handling water flow is a great one. Any of us living on sloped properties struggle with it and may appreciate more.
Thanks for drawing attention to this important garden option. The area that I live in was hit really hard by a storm last September and there was massive flooding in a nearby town…essentially 5 miles downhill from us. Construction of homes, shopping centers, driveways, parking lots and roads all contributed to the massive runoff that basically filled the first floors of homes down stream. We are in the process of putting our own rain garden in, to try to do our part in preventing this from happening again. We aren’t experts so we are fumbling our way through it but it is a labor of love.
Fascinating project. In 8b Central Texas, we don't get a lot of rain, but when we do it floods low lying areas. Since I am on a hill, my goal is to keep every bit of water on my property. I have a berm in the backyard and in front by the street I have iris, daylilies and other plants on the slope to retain my expensively amended soil from flowing downhill. If I were younger I would build terraces. Water management is a critical need, and I would welcome further programs about how to use and protect this resource. Japanese and Chinese hillside gardens are productive and beautiful.
Since I don't know that I've ever lived in a house that had a well, how well water is made available never crossed my mind. Always learn something new watching your videos!
That was extremely interesting Jim. I learned a lot. I have never ever heard of a "rain garden" as was shown and thoroughly explained in your video. It always amazes me the color of your soil there in NC and the southeast....brick red. Illinois rich dark brown/black here. TY. :)
We had a great landscape designer make two of these areas in our yard when we had our old walkways replaced and a patio put in. I'm so glad we paid a little more for an expert who knew to do this or we would not be enjoying our patio as much!
What an amazing concept! I hope they let you come back in a year or so to see how the plants have filled in the space. I'd certainly like to create something like this in the future.
I'm getting off course .. just want to let you know that I love your programs. You have something for everyone from the gardener on a budget to the gardener that can pull out all stops. I hang on your every word when giving gardening advice. Thank you 😊
Wow. Jim you are so articulate and speak clearly so we understand everything you say. The comparison with some of your guests is incredible. Thank you for repeating what they say or we'd never understand what they mean. Well doned
Great video. Very interesting concept. Would love to see a follow up on this garden when all the plants are in and have woken up. Maybe even next year once they've had a chance to put on some growth.
Thank you so much for this! I've been looking for more ways to make better use of all the rain we get here in Houston! Great info and I'd love to see more on this subject
I loved this. I've looked into whether or not a reason garden was feasible on my property but wasn't sure if I needed a rain garden or bog garden with the topography around here.
We live in the country and we capture all the rain water off our roof in to giant rain barrels for watering. If we lived in the city would probably use that system as it makes a lot of sense.
Would love to see more rain gardens. Is it possible to put together a list of plants that would work in a rain garden? As she said with deep roots - and by zone. In zone 5. Great video!
This was very interesting! I never knew what a rain garden really was. Excellent, especially if you have a sloped yard. It looked like a lot of work and it turned out beautiful! So glad you shared this.
Very interesting but I'm wondering why they don't install a rain capture system underground to use instead of percolating into the ground. Rain gardening is pretty, just wondering about being able to utilize the rainwater for yard use. Thanks
Been eagerly awaiting this video! So much great info! This has been in my mind for a while now for my back yard and seeing this really helped. Thanks so much for making this✨
We are on five acres of white tall pine and deciduous trees. We want to landscape with the land not fight it,using native plants instead of introducing things that won't survive. We've had forestry mulching done on 2 acres and I've watched as the mulched dead trees break down and create the most beautiful soil. I'm in Virginia Zone 7A sandy loam,so we drain a little faster than clay. Are there any resources your landscaping experts would recommend for plant lists? It seem incongruous to see a water garden among the tall Pines,but here with hilly land grade changes towards the nearest river,Mother Nature does her best! Great episode 👏
The idea of digging 30 inches down into my clay soil is enough that I know this is a lot of work, even with the right equipment and not just a shovel. Stormwater runoff is a huge issue in my neighborhood, made worse by new construction happening on adjacent land. Our storm drains were running red on Thursday with all the rain we got. I've lived here through hurricanes and never saw anything like it.
This is so cool. I'm going to see if our area has a program for this. We are off a ravine so rain from several homes runs down to my neighbors yard. I could help slow the affects of that. Thanks 👍
"if it didn't have gutters...." :-) I had considered moving to NC and did some house-hunting there. It was quite a shock to see homes without gutters. A common thing in NC? Great video! Thank you!
I helped create a rain garden for a Habitat for Humanity build, that was the first time I heard of it. I was very impressed that the program included it in the build process. Thank you for the details. Will you be adding a rain garden to your home?
Is there some sort of filtering system to keep the leaves and other debris that gather in gutters out of the pipes? What keeps them from getting clogged over time?
I'm curious about how much of the project will be reimbursed by Raleigh. Just this specific company, or the tree and stump removal, the plants as well are included in the areas program? This is important for people who live with a flood zone. 🙏
I honestly don't know. Didn't want to get into it. Every municipality has a different math for it I'm sure. The tree and stp removal would definitely not be part of it though.
Itea question: The mulched bed area around my two air conditioner units along with a couple of lawn sprinkler heads keep that area damp most of the time. Iteas may be my solution to hide the AC units. In addition to spring blooms, they have beautiful fall color. Any Itea varieties you especially like?
I grew Merlot and Henry's Garnet for years. Both are good. Little Henry is supposed to be more compact, but I haven't seen it looking great in the landscape. Maybe just who or how it was planted.
It really doesn't have to be that complicated. I made one with the corrugated french drains and took water from the carport in the back yard to the front yard rain garden and filled it with fall leaves picked up on trash day. I will top it with wood chips when I get a tree removed and will keep the chips for that purpose. The garden over flow is a critical consideration that you did not mention. It cannot overflow back towards a structure or there will be trouble. You don't have to have gutters at all. You could have french drains at the roof drip line or grade the yard so that the water will drain away from the house and channel it to the rain garden. Most yards could have a simple rain garden. It would be pretty (with normal garden upkeep) and a tremendous help for flood control and water pollution. Why didn't you put one in your yard?
