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Often people have flooded in their basements or their backyards. This problem is not only annoying, but it is hazardous as well. Among the many solutions to this issue is a rain garden.
It is a simple way to help to decrease water runoff. Not only is it a practical solution, but it also adds glamour to your property. A rain garden is quite easy to build.
It works in most climates and locations. They can also be beneficial when it comes to budget as well. Some local water councils even offer discounts for building one. You also save a lot of time and money on lawn care.
With this simple list of rain garden design inspirations, you’ll find motivation and inspiration to immediately add one to your property.
We also highly recommend consulting a local landscaper to get the best rain garden design ideas around your house. A local landscaper can certainly assist you in finding the best rain garden grass ideas and implementing them effectively.
Rain gardens are designed to manage rainwater runoff while also providing an attractive landscape feature. So, if you live in Boise, Idaho, consult the best landscaper Boise, ID to get the best rain design ideas for your house.
What is a Rain Garden?
Image source: Garden Stories
A rain garden is a garden or a rain pond of native plants and flowers. It is usually planted in a small depression generally built on a natural hill. Its use is to briefly take and soak in rainwater runoff that leaks from rooftops, streets, yards, or terraces.
When building a rain garden, you have to keep in mind that certain plants are better. Ideally, local and native plants are the best ones. This is because they assist in draining the water into the soil in less than a day.
Rain gardens are also magnificent for limiting contamination and preventing overall pollution. They help by accumulating pollutants such as excess nitrogen, phosphorus, and other chemicals from lawn fertilizers. These kinds of contaminants are incredibly detrimental to streams, rivers, and lakes. By absorbing them, they preserve the groundwater condition and improve the overall water quality.
Rain Garden Design Ideas
When creating a rain garden, you should always work with the assets you already have. A rain garden should enhance your lawn. Work with your plants, trees, and weeds to create a personalized design. Your favorite tree or spot could become even more attractive or accentuated. With these rain garden design ideas, you can explore your tastes and get on with building one.
Flower Inspired Rain Garden Designs
Image source: Landforms
As stated before, rain gardens are an excellent method to keep water runoff from roofs, paths, and lawns. You didn’t know that they can do all that while still being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. You can accentuate your rain garden by adding flower-inspired designs.
For example, this rain garden design highlights vibrant summer and fall colors. It comes with gold black-eyed Susan, purple Russian sage, purple coneflower, and rose-pink ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum. It’s excellent if you love flowers included in your design.
Rain Garden on a Slope
Image source: Jay Sifford Garden Design
A rain garden is ideally established on a faint slope uphill from the low point in your backyard, upright to water flow. That’s why when you’re building the rain garden, you first need to create a terraced garden. You also must add multiple cells to uphold and retain the water.
Of course, you should stage these cells in a way that they are aesthetically pleasing as well. That way, you’ll have both a gorgeous yet practical garden on a hill.
The Rain Zen Garden
Image source: The Garden Artist LLC
In springtime, Zen gardens are a must. They are simple, yet they add a special touch to the overall look. Their simplicity doesn’t overpower the landscape, but it adds a fresh look to it.
You don’t have to plan a lot in order to install a Zen garden. You can make some of the infiltration area a Zen-inspired space, and that’s it. All you need to do is set up a porous plant barrier below the rocks, and there you have it.
You can finish your design by adding a long line of water-loving plants that will absorb moisture and prevent your soil from going air-less.
Design With Your Overall Landscape in Mind
Image source: Hawks Landscape Inc.
Perhaps a different way of working your rain garden design is to choose plant-based surfaces and textures. You can even add various shades and shapes that match your current weeds. You can make this rainwater garden stand out or blend with the rest of your current backyard aesthetic.
At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide whether those two things will harmonize or not. Your rain garden design is your personal choice and financial limits.
Make it Double
Image source: In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes
If you want to optimize their performance, you can mirror two rain gardens. This way, not only will they optimize the functionality, but they will additionally complement your walking path as well.
Each season you will seem to have a new pair of rain gardens. During spring and summer, they will shine as lush gardens, and during fall and winter, they will marble the weather.
This kind of stone spillway regulates rainwater flow from nearby firm exteriors into the rain garden sink. On the lower side, an overflow spillway and drainage pipe move rainwater runoff to adjacent storm drain pipes when massive rains fuel the rain garden to flood.
Edging Lends a Finished Look
Image source: Katia Goffin Gardens
You can always keep the rain garden separated from the yard by building a precise edging. This kind of edging gives off a more clean and professional-looking atmosphere.
However, when making an edging, it is essential to choose an edging that is easily mowed. That way, you are going to keep your low garden maintenance and can enjoy it and worry less.
Go with the Flow
Image source: Exteriorscapes llc
Another great idea to spice up your design is adding a movement to it. You can mobilize your backyard by combining different patterns to your rain garden. It is best to add a linear flow pattern, which will make it seem as if a stream is running.
You can even use different sand and rocks types to add as a crucial element to the overall look. However, it is best to use different plants or weeds. Such greenery will emphasize the pattern and beautify it.
Bridging The Rain-Garden
Image source: Stone Arch Landscapes
Another great addition to your rain garden design is a bridge. Adding a bridge will become the most prominent feature in the overall landscape image. It can be both environmentally friendly and eye-catching as well.
On the upper edges of the rain garden, you can add the thyme herb. Such an element will form a sweet green carpet.
Ornamental And Decorative Grasses To Steal The Show
Image source: Derviss Design
If you’re looking for a year-round texture and vibrance, ornamental grasses are for you. Groups of these herbs add a harmonizing tone and mingle well with the neighboring plants.
Ornamental grasses add year-round texture, movement, and color to rain gardens. You can emphasize these vibrant weeds by building a paver stone pathway. It nicely compliments their lively nature and reforms the rain garden.
What Kind Of Plants Should You Choose For Your Rain-Garden Design?
Image source: J. Gieo Pensoneault, MLA
It is always best to choose water plants that can adapt to both moist and dry soils. The reason for this is that At times, the garden will have very wet soil, but at other times plantings will be swamped by rainwater. A mix of both native and decorative plants is always a great choice. Plants such as turtlehead, switchgrass, or even dense blazing star are perfect if you’re looking for that.
You can also add tall trees and other large and broad weeds in order to divert the waterfall. Because of their tall structure, they slow it down. Additionally, they also can act as water filters.
Ending thoughts on the perfect rain-garden design
Once you’ve decided on your rain garden idea, the next step is adding a pinch of your own personal taste.
Now that you have the inspiration, it’s crucial to measure your garden’s capability for the area – the downspouts that lead into your rain garden and the upslope area that runs into your rain garden.
You can accommodate any of these ideas in almost any space – from large to small. Furthermore, you can explore different designs in order to create an original and unique touch.
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