Rainscaping Guide: Design and Build a Rain Garden

Organize Water Flow

Several options exist when deciding how to direct water into the rain garden:

• When designing a rain garden to manage runoff from the roof, redirect your gutter downspout(s) to point towards your rain garden and reroute the water through an underground pipe or a bioswale.
• If a rain barrel has been installed on the gutter downspout, redirect the overflow from the rain barrel to the rain garden through an underground pipe or a bioswale.
• In some cases, the topography of the property allows for a natural flow of water. Take advantage of this when designing a rain garden and/or bioswale.
• Be sure to reinforce the area where water enters the rain garden if there is a potential for erosion with erosion netting and/or stone.
• It may be a good idea to leave your rain garden “off line” for an initial period. By allowing time for your plants to become well-established in your rain garden before redirecting gutter downspouts or adding the directional pipe or bioswale to route water to your rain garden, the plants will become strong and tall enough to withstand flooding.

Continue on to Select Plants