Before and After ~ The Rain Garden

Andrea had designed a rain garden in the original drawings but not being exactly sure what a rain garden was, we initially elected to leave it out. But after more discussion about the runoff from the large expanse of patio pavers we were installing it was determined that the rain garden would probably be one of the most functional features we could include in our plan. Amazingly enough, it is one of our favorite features as well.

The Challenge ~ Allow for adequate drainge of rainwater from the extensive hardscape area as well as rain runoff from our large expanse of roof on the main house and the three car garage roof that we had recently built. All of the gutters on the back of the house and the addition were now being directed to the area below the patio which once was a wooded area that had always had a path of water drainage right thru the middle. Anything we tried to plant there would be in danger of being swept away with the rainwater drainage.

Before





The Process ~ A deep hole was dug in order to catch the rain water drainoff in a sort of basin.



Our favorite feature of all is the rock drainage well that George, one of our landscapers with Inside-Out Design, conceived and built on the fly. We had a bunch of rocks piled up in the corner of our yard from where we had put in a dry stack wall many years ago. George came up with the idea to incorporate the rocks into a natural looking pathway that would allow the water to drain right into the rain garden giving the area some interest and breaking up the large expanse of area. George really rocks (no pun intended)!!!



After ~ You can see the rain garden after a rain. It was planted with water-loving plants such as Japanese Iris and Horsetails. I am also on the look out for other interesting rain garden plants I can add a few at a time.



Here it is when it is dry ~ it is so incredibly cool-looking and functional. We are so absolutely thrilled that we had it installed by our phenomenal landscape design team from Inside-Out Design.

The rain garden is one of our favorite features and it may save us some money in the near future as the city of Lexington is considering taxing residents for rainwater recovery depending upon how much hardscape they have on their property. But having a rain garden makes you exempt. Gotta love that! Beautiful and good for the environment too.