Transform a drab corner of your landscape into a dynamic, rain-driven ecosystem!  Just create a modest ponding area or bermed depression in your yard, improve the soil, and add an eye-popping assortment of native plants.  You’ll soon capture thousands of gallons of runoff, using each valuable drop to nurture a vibrant new garden.

Rain Gardens
Excellent brochure (PDF format) created by the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin DNR

Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use
Patricia H. Waterfall: Harvesting rainwater can reduce the use of drinking water for landscape irrigation. Coupled with the use of native and desert-adapted plants, rainwater harvesting is an effective water conservation tool because it provides "free" water that is not from the municipal supply. There are many benefits to harvesting rainwater.

Planting A Rain Garden
Erik Ness, Madison Magazine

Plotting to Infiltrate? Try Rain Gardens
This rainy spring has been an ideal time to notice the areas in your yard where stormwater and snowmelt have ponded. Instead of making plans to fill in that low spot in your yard, consider installing a rain garden instead.

Rain Gardens: Gardening with Water Quality in Mind
When you make a garden a "rain garden" you can improve local water quality while creating a beautiful natural area that will attract birds and butterflies. Rain gardens allow rain and snowmelt to seep naturally into the ground. This helps recharge our groundwater supply, and prevents a water quality problem called polluted runoff. Rain gardens are an important way to make our cities more attractive places to live while building urban ecological health.

One Key to Curbing Pollution
Rain gardens catch, use water before it carries pollutants into lakes.  By Steve Schultze, Journal Sentinel

Residential Uses of LID [Low Impact Development]
Hold the mouse cursor over any colored part of the image to identify the LID technique that is being used in this setting. Click on this same area to go directly to the relevant design page.

Rain Gardens
Virginia Department of Forestry: A "rain garden" is a man-made depression in the ground that is used as a landscape tool to improve water quality. The rain garden forms a "bioretention area" by collecting water runoff and storing it, permitting it be filtered and slowly absorbed by the soil.

Rainscapes > Calendar of Events

webmaster@rainscapes.org
Last updated: 04/21/2005