a real time look at a demonstration rain garden
I'm designing a rain garden for myself and have one on the books for a client, so I went out to Sacramento County's Animal Care Facility on Bradshaw Road for a look at their demo garden.
Rain falls onto roofs and pavements...
Fresh rain water drains into the rain garden...
...where it is used by the plants and absorbed into the ground.
Rain gardens help make our environment healthy. A rain garden is a shallow man-made depression that collects rain water from roof tops. A rain garden benefits our environment in several ways,
- Collects rain water and allows it to be absorbed into the ground.
- An average-sized rain garden in Sacramento can potentially retain thousands of gallons of water every year.
- Protects creeks and rivers from pollutants carried by rain water
- Produces beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees.
- Provides habitat for birds and butterflies.
California and Mediterranean natives are great choices for rain gardens, just make sure you pick plants that don't mind getting a bit soggy when it rains!
If a picture paints a thousand words, then what happens when you see it in person? Take a trip out to the shelter. It's lovely, has a big dog park, great examples of drought tolerant plantings
For more about rain gardens and some great links, check out The Great Rain Garden Adventure.
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