How do you build a rain garden in Texas?
The key to creating a successful rain garden is in choosing the right site, digging it down to an appropriate depth and guiding storm overflow to it by utilizing the natural contours of your yard or directing the overflow through a channel like a dry creek bed that starts at a gutter down spout.
What plants do well with lots of rain?
Plant a Rain Garden
- Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida)
- Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
- Swamp mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
- Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium)
- Sedges (Carex)
- Bluestar (Amsonia)
- Turtlehead (Chelone)
What can you plant in a rain garden berm?
During dry periods, those deep roots help locate stores of water deeper in the soil. Some of my favorite rain garden plants are yarrow and echinacea, and a few edible perennials for wet soil. My front yard rain garden is planted with deep-rooted perennials like iris (with grass-like leaves) and pink coneflower.
What are the different layers of a rain garden?
The rain garden consists of a vegetated or stone ponding area, a mulch layer, a planting soil layer, a sand bed, and a gravel base. The multiple layers work together to filter pollutants from water, allowing it to infiltrate into the groundwater supply uncontaminated.
How deep is a rain garden?
between four and eight inches deep
A typical rain garden is between four and eight inches deep. A rain garden more than eight inches deep might pond water too long, look like a hole in the ground, and present a tripping hazard for somebody stepping into it.
Are hostas good for a rain garden?
Plants for a Full-Shade Rain Garden: While they are mostly known for their foliage, hostas produce pretty flowers in the summer and early fall months. Once established, the plant can withstand heat and mild droughts, but are a perfect plant for your rain garden, as they prefer wet soil.
Do rain gardens attract mosquitoes?
Will a Rain Garden Attract Mosquitoes? Water should stand in a rain garden no longer than 24 hours after the rain stops. Mosquitoes cannot complete their breeding cycle in this length of time, so a rain garden should not increase mosquito populations.
How deep can rain gardens be?
How many plants should be in a rain garden?
Three plants. Daylilies (Hemerocallis), which may not be natives but can keep your rain garden in bloom over a long season if you plant early, midseason, and late varieties. Assorted heights and a rainbow of colors are available. Zones 4 to 11.
How do you landscape a rain garden?
The site should receive full sun to partial shade. Avoid locating your garden over a septic tank or near underground utility lines. The ideal size of your rain garden will depend on how big your roof is, the amount of runoff generated, and your soil type. Most rain gardens average between 100 to 300 square feet.
Are hydrangeas good for rain gardens?
For smaller rain gardens, shrubs provide those necessary bones that lend interest to the landscape in the winter months. An oakleaf hydrangea will thrive in a rain garden while providing three seasons of interest.
What type of tree grows well in wet soil?
Hardy trees and shrub species that survive wet areas include birch, willow, tupelo, bald cypress, hackberry, and sweetgum. For tropical areas, palm trees and water ash are excellent choices. For plants and groundcovers that love water, please see my list of plants that like wet soil.
What kind of trees soak up a lot of water?
Willows are ideal for absorbing the most water. Wet areas, such as streams, lakes, and wetlands, are where they naturally grow. These plants have thus adapted their leaves and roots to absorb all of the excess water.
What shrubs drink the most water?
Water absorbing shrubs
- Inkberry (zones 5-9)
- Button bush (zones 6-9)
- Summersweet (zones 4-9)
- Black chokeberry (zones 3-8)
- American cranberrybush (zones 2-7)
- Spice bush (zones 4-9)
- Red twig dogwood (zones 3-8)
- Blue elderberry (zones 3-10)
What bushes drink a lot of water?
List of the Best Plants, Trees & Shrubs that Soak Up & Absorb LOTS of Water
- 1.1 1) Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides)
- 1.2 2) Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
- 1.3 3) Red maple (Acer rubrum)
- 1.4 4) River birch (Betula nigra)
- 1.5 5) French rose (Rosa gallica)
- 1.6 6) Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Are ferns good for rain gardens?
Sedges, Ferns and Grasses for Your Raingardens These plants love the sun and can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and shades of green to fit any taste. Ferns are another type of plant that loves the wet, but are usually in need of a large amount of shade.