CreatingaRainGarden Creating a Rain Garden fromStarttoFinish from Start to Finish

SarahT.Hilderbrand EnvironmentalConcern SalenaGarber Salena Garber Northbay LLC

Environmental Concern Inc.

EnvironmentalConcern Environmental Concern

ECpromotespublicunderstandingand p p g stewardshipofwetlandswiththegoalof p g q y g improvingwaterqualityandenhancingnatures habitat.Thisisaccomplishedthroughwetland , p outreachandeducation,nativespecies horticulture,andtherestoration,construction andenhancementofwetlands.
Environmental Concern Inc. www.wetland.org

NorthbayLLC Northbay LLC

Challengemiddleschoolstudentstorealizethat Challenge middle school students to realize that theirattitudesandactionshavealastingimpact ontheirfuture,ourenvironment,andthe on their future our environment and the peoplearoundthembyusingapproved MarylandDepartmentofEducationcurriculum Maryland Department of Education curriculum andtheoutdoorsasanintegratingcontext.
www.northbayadventure.com

Theissue: The issue:

StormwaterRunoff Stormwater Runoff

ImperviousSurfaces&theWaterCycle p y

RunoffProblems Runoff Problems

ReducedWaterQuality
Pollutants,Sediment,Sewage

StreamErosion Stream Erosion Lossofhabitatandaquaticlife Increasedflooding I d fl di Decreasedgroundwaterrecharge Increasedwatertemperatures

Solutions

Wetland

RainBarrel

GreenRoof

RainGardens

Pervious Pervious Paving

SoWhatisaRainGarden? So What is a Rain Garden?

RainGardensaredesignedto workinmuchthesamewayas naturalwetlandecosystems they providewildlifehabitat,storeand filterstormwaterandrecharge undergroundaquifers. Unlikewetlands,theyallowwater toinfiltratequicklyintotheground insteadofpoolingonthesurface.

RainGardenDefinitions Rain Garden Definitions

Adepressedlandscapingfeaturethatis plantedwithnativeplants andisusedto managestormwaterrunofffrom impervious surfaces. A rain garden is Araingardenis createdina depressionand depression and collectsstormwater allowinginfiltrationin allowing infiltration in lessthan2448hours.

RainGardenFunctions Rain Garden Functions

Comparedtoaconventionalpatchoflawn,a raingardenallowsabout30%morewaterto rain garden allows about 30% more water to soakintotheground. Rechargelocaland regionalaquifers regional aquifers Helptoprotect communitiesfrom communities from flooding&drainage p problems
Deep Roots

RainGardenFunctions Rain Garden Functions

Enhancingthebeautyofyardsand neighborhoods Providing valuable habitat for birds, butterflies Providingvaluablehabitatforbirds,butterflies andmanybeneficialinsects

RainGardenFunctions Rain Garden Functions

Actasafiltertohelptoprotectstreamsand lakesfrompollutantscarriedbyurban stormwater. Reducelawnstobe mowedandwatered. mowed and watered.

Yourpersonal p contributionto cleanerwater! cleaner water!

Whatisneededtohaveone? What is needed to have one?

All designs need: Alldesignsneed:
AWaterSource/Inflow Temporary Ponding area TemporaryPondingarea LooseSoils A AppropriatePlants i t Pl t Mulch O fl Outflowconsiderations id i
(spillway,drain,underdrain)

DIY RainGardens DIY Rain Gardens

Cost: roughly $3$12+ per square foot Cost:roughly$3 $12+persquarefoot Manyguidesavailableonline.
www.rainscaping.org/_ccLib/attachments/pages/Rain+Gardens+Across+MD_screen.pdf www rainscaping org/ ccLib/attachments/pages/Rain+Gardens+Across+MD screen pdf

Remembertheseareguides,notrules!

SelectaSite Select a Site

Lookforasiteatleast10feetfromany buildings toprotectfoundations buildings to protect foundations Pickaspotthatwillcollectwaterfrom surroundingsurfaces. di f Sunnygardensarepreferable,thoughpartial andfullshadecanbeaccommodated. Watchoutforundergroundhazards(septic, Watch out for underground hazards (septic, wiring,storagetanks,etc.)andtrees.

SelectaSite Select a Site

Bewaryofstandingwater indicationoflowsoil permeability. Avoidareaswithhighwatertablesorareaswith shallowsoilsoverbedrock. SoilsurveyinformationfromtheSoilandWater ConservationDistrictwillindicatetheseconditions.
http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda. p y gov/app/

Selectasite Select a site

Make sure area is accessible for maintenance Makesureareaisaccessibleformaintenance anddesiredfunction.
Near a spigot for watering? Nearaspigotforwatering? Noticeanysafetyissues. Attractiveviewingspot? g p

Pickalowflatspot.Steepslopesarenot p p p recommended.

GardenDepth Garden Depth

Depthofpoolingspacedependsonarea slope,andavailablespace. *Slope = rise Slopes Depth p p run <5% 5in. 57% 5 7% 6 7 in 67in. 712% ~8in. >12% notrecommended Thisreferstothedepthoftheponding area(top p p g ( p ofbermtosoilbase justbelowmulchlayer).

SoilTest! Soil Test!

Makea soilball, squeeze testit. S d b ll Sand ballcrumbles bl Silt ribbon23&very smooth Clay ribbon>3smooth y
Soil Test from WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands Environmental Concern

Infiltration
1. Digasmallholetoadepthof12 2. Saturatewithwaterbyfillingandallowingto soakin. 3. Refillwithwaterandmeasurehowlongit takesallofthewatertoinfiltrate. takes all of the water to infiltrate. 4. Ifwatersoaksinwithin48hours=good infiltration. infiltration 5. Ifwatertakesmuchlongerthan48hoursto disappear,soilsmayneedtoberemovedand di il dt b d d amended.

Sizing Sizing
Sizeshouldberelativetotheamountofrunoff expected,soiltypeandtheslopeoftheland. A2030%rulecanoftenbefollowed.
(Garden=roughly2030%ofdrainagearea)

T d t Todeterminethesize,thinkabout: i th i thi k b t
Drainagearea/Watershed Gardendepth/Poolingarea Sizeofavailablespace Soiltype/Infiltrationrate

Sizing DrainageArea/Watershed Sizing Drainage Area/Watershed

Determinewherewateriscomingfrom(roof tops,acrosslawnsordriveways). And,howmuchofeachsurfacedrainstoward thegarden?

Measurethearea oftheimpervioussurfacesthat willdrainintoyourgarden(roof,pavement) Dothesameforthepervioussources(grass). p (g )

LetitRain Let it Rain

Ifyouhaveanytroubledecidingwhererunoff flows,watcharainstorminthearea. fl h i i h Basemeasurementsona1in.stormeventto accountforatypicalamountofrain. Makesurethatyourgardencancontainthe y g waterthatwillcomefromitswatershed g duringastormofthatsize.

PutitallTogether Put it all Together

RainGardenSize: 1. ___=Distancefrom 10 impervioussurfaces Silt 2. ___=Soiltype 3. 500 sq ft ___=Drainagearea 6 4. ___=Depth(from previouschart) 0.25 5. ___=Sizefactor(seeside chart) 6. 125sq ft ___=Raingardenarea*
Distanceof <10ft. Depth 5" 0.19 0.34 0.43 67" 0.15 0.25 0.32 8" 0.08 0.16 0.20 AllDepths 0.03 0.06 0.10 >30ft. Soiltype Sand Silt Clay

SizefactortomultiplybyDrainageArea toget gardenareabasedonSoiltype.

*Drainage area x sizing factor = rain garden area d Garden = 10 x 12.5

Shapes
Crescent,teardropandbeanshapesare commonbutnotrequired. Shapeshouldworkwithandenhanceexisting p g featuresandwithyourwishes. Make sure your shape best traps the water Makesureyourshapebesttrapsthewater andfitsthelandscape. Design your garden so that the wider side is Designyourgardensothatthewidersideis perpendiculartotherunoffflow.

Design g
Beginwiththe basics. b i Notewhere drainage comesinand willgoout. Markout swales,deep areasand berms.

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TFH/Step-ByStep/FH07APR_RAIGAR_02.JPG

Design
Designsshouldhave:
A Water Source Inlet(s) AWaterSource TemporaryPondingArea Top layer of mulch (non floating) Toplayerofmulch(nonfloating) OverflowConsiderations Outlet(s) Access (for observation or maintenance) Access(forobservationormaintenance) Anindicationoftopographychanges A tt ti l Anattractivelayout t

Layers

Ponding Area P di A 6-12 Mulch 2-3 Loose soils (Tilled or Amended) 6-24 Gravel (if needed) 6-12

Construction
Callbeforeyoudig!www.missutility.net Knowyoursitetoavoidsurprises.

OrderingMaterials Ordering Materials

Dothemathandcheckittwice! Do the math and check it twice! Volume=SurfaceAreaxDepthinfeet
Example:2ofmulchneededfor125sqftgarden E l 2 f l h d d f 125 ft d
125sqftx(2/12ft)=20.8cuft So21cuftofmulchwouldbeneeded. So 21 cu ft of mulch would be needed

LargeorderswillneedtobeinCubicyards(=Cuft/27ft)
(Ayard=3soacubicyard=27)

Bulkmaterialsareusuallymorecosteffective,butfora y , smallgarden,bagsmightbeeasiertomaneuver.

Construction
Mark out and carefully dig your garden Markoutandcarefullydigyourgarden toaleveldepthwithgradualslopes.

Construction

Know where excavated soils are going Knowwhereexcavatedsoilsaregoing. Oftenexcavatedmaterialcanbeusedto createabermorbeusedforotherprojects. If digging by hand, kill grass first to make Ifdiggingbyhand,killgrassfirsttomake diggingeasier(orrentasodcutter).

AvoidCompaction Avoid Compaction

Ifusingheavymachinery,trytoavoiddriving overtheareabeingexcavated,usemachines h b i d hi thatcandigfromtheedge. Tillthesurfacearea612downifpossibleto createloosestsoilspossible. Ifexistingsoilsdonot drainwell,excavate drain well excavate deeperandrefillwith bettersoil. better soil

Selectplants Select plants

Determinewhichplantswilldobestinwhich locationswithinthegarden.
http://www.wetland.org/nursery_home.htm

Selectionbasedonconditions Selection based on conditions

Sun Soil Salinity y WATER!

Selectplants Select plants

Placeplantsaccordingtotheirheightrange. Ingeneralavoidlargetrees. y Thinkaboutyearround interest:color,flowering period,evergreens, period, evergreens, winterpersistence,textures, etc. etc

PlantingPlans GONATIVE! Planting Plans GO NATIVE!

Selectplantspeciesbasedonregional Select plant species based on regional appropriateness,availability,price,andthe goalsofthegarden. goals of the garden Learntocompareplantcharacteristics
http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/Chesapeake/toc.htm

ComplimentaryColorGroupings Complimentary Color Groupings

www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene5d2e.html

PlantingPlans Planting Plans

Howmanyplantdoyouneed? How many plant do you need? Findtherateofspreadforyourplant:Slow, Medium,Rapid,Tree Medium Rapid Tree Usethisequationdodeterminethenumber ofplants: f l Ex: (30 sq ft)= 13 or 14 plants (areaforthatplant) (1.5) In general space herbaceous plants at (rateofspread)2 least1 apart and give shrubs at least 3
2

Orderplantsassoonaspossible.

Planting g
Plantsshouldbespacedaccordingtotheirrate p ,g y p ( ) ofspread,generally12feetapart(forbs).
Thiswillalsofactorintohowmanyplantstoorder. This will also factor into how many plants to order

When planting use a slow release fertilizer or Whenplantinguseaslowreleasefertilizeror organiccomposttohelptheplantsestablish.

Plantingwithgroups Planting with groups

Whenworking When working withgroups, layoutareastobe layout areas to be plantedasto protectplantings protect plantings andwork effectively. effectively Avoidcompaction whenpossible. when possible

Don tForget! Dont Forget!

All designs need: Alldesignsneed:
AWaterSource Temporary Ponding area TemporaryPondingarea LooseSoils A AppropriatePlants i t Pl t Mulch O fl Overflowconsiderations id i

Maintenance Maintenance
RainGardensshouldbelowmaintenance. R i G d h ld b l i t Like every garden, they will need to be Likeeverygarden,theywillneedtobe wateredtogetestablished,butoncethe plantsarewellrootedtheywillgetmostof plants are well rooted they will get most of theirwaterfromprecipitation. Thegardenwillneedperiodicweedingand mightcallformulchonce twiceperyear. Checkinflowandoutflowareasperiodically.

Maintenance Maintenance
Seasonally: S ll Gardenswillneednewmulchaboutonceor twiceperyear(mulchshouldnottouch plants). Earlyspringisagoodtimetocutback previousyear sgrowth. previous years growth

Signage
Signscanbeafunand educationaladditionto yourgarden.

OverallCautions Overall Cautions

Mosquitoes&Otherinsects Maintenance Weeding g Permits/MissUtilities Habitatlookvs.Garden Habitat look vs Garden Questions?

NativePlantSpecies Native Plant Species

These brochures are available online at www wetland org/ www.wetland.org/ nursery_news.htm

OnlineResources(Design)
www.rainscaping.org/_ccLib/attachments/pages/Rain+ Gardens+Across+MD_screen.pdf p www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/raingardenbk.pdf htt //d http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/rg/rgmanual.pdf i / ff/ / l df http://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/GWQ034.pdf www.deq.state.ok.us/pubs/lpd/edibleappends/raingard ens.pdf www.raingardens.org/docs/Create_A_Rain_Garden.pdf www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/raingarden/Building.htm

OnlineResources(Plants)
www.wetland.org/nursery_news.htm www lowimpactdevelopment org/raingarden design/d www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/d ownloads/PlantListPGDEP.pdf www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/d l i td l t / i d d i /d ownloads/PlantListDelawarDNRECMay2006.pdf www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/d l i d l / i d d i /d ownloads/BayscapeBeneficialPlantsList.pdf www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/d ownloads/MDCoastalPlain1.pdf

ContactUs Contact Us
SarahHilderbrand Sarah Hilderbrand EducationDirector/ SchoolyardHabitatSpecialist y p EnvironmentalConcern d educate@ et a d o g dir.educate@wetland.org 4107459620 www.wetland.org SalenaGarber Salena Garber
Senior Educator/Schoolyard Habitat Coordinator

NorthBayAdventure
ssampson@northbayadventure.com

443.206.3064 www.northbayadventure.com

Notesforschools Notes for schools

Involvecommunity Involve community Getfacilities/maintenanceonboardearly Seekapprovalsneeded S k l d d Involveasmanystudentsaspossible Educate!!! Integrateintocurriculum Integrate into curriculum Fundraising Maintenanceplan(especiallysummer!) M i l ( i ll !)