Applied Ecological Services, Inc.
Wisconsin Office
17921 Smith Road,
P. O. Box 256
Brodhead, WI 53520
Phone: 608.897.8641
Voicemail: 608.897.4898
AES Fax: 608.897.8486
TCRN Fax: 608.897.2044
Info@AppliedEco.com

Illinois Office
120 West Main St
W. Dundee, IL 60118
Phone: 847.844.9385
Fax: 847.844.8759

Kansas City Office
1904 Elm Street
Eudora, KS 66025
Phone 785.542.3090
Fax 785.542.3570

Minnesota Office
21938 Mushtown Rd
Prior Lake, MN 55372
Phone: 952.447.1919
Fax: 952.447.1920

East Coast Office
1100 E. Hector Street Suite #398
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone: 610.238.9088

Rain gardens: Integrating stormwater management into beautiful residential landscapes

Turn on HGTV or visit your local nursery and it's likely you'll hear people talking about adding a "rain garden" to their yard. But is a rain garden more than just a new trend in gardening for those who want to be the first in their neighborhood to have a "wet" garden as well as conventional plantings? The answer is a resounding yes. A rain garden is much more than a landscaping trend it's a sensible way to incorporate attractive, flowering native species into residential landscapes while at the same time benefitting the environment.

A rain garden is simply a shallow depression in the yard planted with native wetland or wet prairie wildflowers and grasses. Rain gardens allow water to naturally infiltrate back into the ground, managing rainwater and stormwater run-off in a more sustainable way. Whether you live near a creek or miles away from one in the heart of suburbia, a rain garden can help preserve your area's rivers and streams.

"Every drop of water that hits the ground winds up in our streams and rivers," explained John Gishnock, III, ecological designer for Native Landscapes by AES, a division of Applied Ecological Services. "Whether it's rain or the carbonated soda that you dump in your driveway, it all gets found in the soil or goes into our creeks." More and more, our stormwater runoff contains sediment and contaminates which are harmful to waterways. The plants and soil in a rain garden act as filters or anti-bodies that bind harmful particulets in the water into different carbons, which are absorbed and broken down over time. "Through the rain garden, water is filtered and absorbed into the ground more naturally than if it runs right off our lawns into the storm sewer drain that goes off to our streams," Gishnock said.

Rain garden species

Clay soils
Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Water plantain (Alisma subcordatum)
Bottle brush sedge (Carex hystricina)
Fox sedge (Carex vulpinoidea)
Wild blue flag iris (Iris virginica shrevei)
Torrey's rush (Juncus torreyi)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
False dragon's head (Physostegia virginiana)
Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
Green bulrush (Scirpus atrovirens)
River bulrush (Scirpus fluviatilis)
Soft-stemmed bulrush (Scirpus validus)

Well-drained to sandy soils
New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Spotted Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)
Torrey's rush (Juncus torreyi)
Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Marsh phlox (Phlox glaberrima)
Mountain mint (Pycanthemum virginianum)
Green bulrush (Scirpus atrovirens)
Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
Culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Form AND function
The environmental benefits are clear, but it's also the beauty and diversity of native flora and fauna that is making the rain garden one of the most popular new perennial garden designs. There are many species of native plants from which to choose that offer an array of color, texture and dimension. These wetland and prairie wildflowers and grasses are beautiful, hardy and low-maintenance _ once established, they thrive without additional watering or fertilizer and minimal weeding. And, the rain garden habitat hosts a variety of birds, animals and insects including butterflies, dragonflies and other beneficial bugs.

Homeowners who are afraid of attracting mosquitoes, however, needn't worry. A healthy, functioning rain garden attracts predatory insects and birds that will contain the mosquito population. Diverse plantings with a lot of different native plants provide all the necessary components for a successful and sustainable mini-ecosystem.

Rain gardens as a requirement?
Rain gardens are becoming widely recommended environmental tools for today's eco-conscious homeowners. In fact, for one housing development upstream from Brewery Creek near Cross Plains, Wisconsin, installing a rain garden is more than a suggestion _ it's a requirement. Because the development is directly upstream from a high quality trout stream, lot owners are required to have a rain garden on their property to manage stormwater runoff. The rain gardens will filter and cool runoff from roofs, preventing too-warm, contaminated water from entering the creek and damaging the trout population.

Stormwater management on a corporate scale
Rain gardens have commercial as well as residential applications. Williamson Street Grocery Cooperative, a natural food store in Madison, Wisconsin, recently asked Native Landscapes by AES to create a way to handle their rooftop and parking lot runoff in a landscape addition that would also incorporate outdoor gathering spaces. As a business that promotes organic foods and healthy lifestyles, Willy St. Co-op wanted to continue its natural way of thinking in their landscaping. Currently, the store is surrounded by turf grass, so water is running off into the street, into the storm sewer, and eventually into Lake Monona, just one mile away.

Gishnock and AES have designed a rain garden swale system, scheduled for implementation this spring, that will be an integral part of the new landscape plan. "That's the key," stressed Gishnock. "It's not a serpentine swale system that you walk around which has no relationship to anything else in the area. Instead, it's directly integrated into the new native plantings along with outdoor seating, places to park bikes, and to enjoy the sun and shade." In the end, enjoyment is really what it's all about. "Creating a rain garden is a homeowner's or business owner's chance to give back to their community and do something good for the environment," Gishnock concluded. "Be creative, learn, and have fun while designing your own wet landscape."

How much could a rain garden cost?
"If homeowners are looking to expand their landscaping and add some diversity, there is no added cost for making it a wet landscape addition instead of a dry one," explained Gishnock. If you're contracting a professional, expect to pay an estimated $1,000 for a 100 to 200 sq. ft. rain garden. Or, why not consider doing it yourself for about $200 to $300 in plant cost? "Build Your Own Rain Garden" is a new design sheet available from Native Landscapes by AES that includes garden layouts by soil type, design and maintenance tips, easy-to-follow directions, and a recommended selection of appropriate native plants and seeds which can be purchased directly from AES' sister company, Taylor Creek Restoration Nurseries. Gardeners who are looking for inspiration and ideas are always welcome to stroll the AES/Taylor Creek grounds in Brodhead, Wisconsin, where they can view two functioning rain gardens and a French drain, as well as other native gardens, nursery beds, and environmental habitats.

For more details, or to receive Taylor Creek's 2002-2003 Native Prairie Plant and Seed Catalog, please call 608-897-8641 or e-mail to info@appliedeco.com.
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