Rain gardens

"Rain garden" is a romantic name for a special type of pond, which should feature in every domestic, commercial and industrial garden. Ideally, all the water which falls within a property should flow into the rain garden (technically an 'infiltration pond'). As much of the water as possible should then be infiltrated into the ground within the property boundary. Only the occasional surplus, in times of exceptionally heavy rainfall, should flow into surface water sewers. The reasons for making rain gardens are as follows:

• rain gardens are beautiful
• rain gardens are good for wildlife
• rain gardens trap pollutants
• rain gardens prevent floods, because the water goes into underground aquifers, instead of into sewers, streams and rivers
• rain gardens save money, because less has to be spent on sewers, streams, river bank protection and flood levees
• rain gardens re-charge aquifers, so that more water is available for urban uses

External links

Low Impact Development advice on Rain Gardens

Michigan Raingardens - with a video of how to make rain gardens