New Online Courses for Building Rain Gardens!
How To Build A Rain Garden - 10 Steps - Season to Season Rain Garden Maintenance - Rain Garden Native Plant Guide
A new online course designed to teach you to build your own rain garden in ten simple steps.
What is a rain garden: a rain garden is no more than a shallow depression, planted with deep-rooted native plants and positioned near a runoff source.
First, your rain garden needs to be planted in a shallow depression
Rain Garden Network promotes the use of shallow depressions, dug to a depth of 5″ to 7″, because it is easier for the homeowner or school kids to tackle. The idea of renting heavy equipment and hiring a professional landscaping crew to prepare you garden tends to that the fun and community out of the project.
The smaller footprint also requires less compost, additional soil (if necessary) and mulch. This makes the project less expensive and allows more people to add rain gardens to their property.

Second, your rain garden must be planted with deep-rooted plants that are native to your area
Rain Garden Network is located in Chicago and we know that the American Midwest is the home of the greatest soil on Earth. Our soils became great because of the amazing properties of the native prairie plants and grasses. After 10,000 years of these plants and grasses growing, putting down roots, distributing seed then dying back down and into the earth have made out soil highly organic and the best growing medium anywhere.
These hardy plants and grasses not only create great soils and infiltrate rain waster, they also create wonderful habitat for bees, butterflies and insects of all kinds. Prairie plants also bloom at all times of the year so they can provide a food source all season long to a vast amount number and types of insects.
Prairie plants and grasses help to reduce mosquito populations, as well. Through deep-roots and infiltration of water into the ground and the ability of plants and grasses water absorb water through their roots the rain garden should not have standing water in it for longer than a day. This deprives mosquitoes of the chance to breed and hatch.
Third, your rain garden needs to be positioned near a runoff source
If you build a rain garden without its’ runoff source you will have a dry garden and you won’t have a rain garden.