A Rain Garden Story
In 2018 when we purchased our home recognized that water was collecting in many spots during rain events, turning our yard into a pond. So we decided to install a rain garden. Below you can see the evolution of the project from the Summer of 2019 up to Spring of 2024.
Fall 2018
Spring 2019
Summer 2019. In-progress Rain Garden basin.
Summer 2019. Replaced broken light post with a nice River Birch and connected a buried pipe to downspout on gutters.
Late Summer 2019, we planted lots of natives but many of the cultivars died over the ensuing summer and winter.
Spring 2020. We had to replace a few plants and decided to expand our gardens under the windows of the house.
Summer 2021. The garden is filling out!
Summer 2022. We decide to tear up more turf, expand the rain garden with an additional feeder pipe and plant annual cover crop.
Spring 2023. The annual cover crop died back and we are preparing to plant more natives.
Early Summer 2023. The new garden extension is filling-in nicely.
Mid Summer 2023
Late Summer 2023
Spring 2024. Very lush. Now in its 5th season the garden is coming into its own.
Summer 2018. The site of the original rain garden. You can see it is flooding.
Summer 2018.
Summer 2020. Even with rain garden we are still getting a lot of water collecting.
Summer 2021. Still so much rain collecting. Time to expand!
Summer 2022. Adding a new downspout and hose from the gutters to the rain garden.
Summer 2022. The buried pipe and new downspout.
Late Summer 2022. Prepping ground to sow annual cover crop, to hold ground and wait for planting in Spring 2023.
Late Summer 2022
Summer 2022. added a dry creek to move water passively also acts to slow water down so that native plants can move into down.
Fall 2022. Annual cover crop is doing its job.
Winter 2023-2024. Everything is resting.
Spring 2023. Preparing to plant new gardens.
Early Summer 2023. New native plantings are densely planted to avoid weeds and compete with Silver Maple roots.
Summer 2023.
Summer 2023.
Late Summer 2023. With a few introduced annuals the new garden is looking full and fresh even in its 1st year.
Fall 2023, an early snow clips wings.
Spring 2024.