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Rain Gardens

Rain Gardens Infiltrating Wisconsin!

Rain garden at Willy Street Coop after planting

Rain gardens are a way for homeowners as well as businesses to participate in the reduction of polluted runoff, simply by planting a specialized garden. Rain Gardens are an infiltration technique - water is captured in a garden that features native plantings, and the water has a chance to slowly filter into the ground rather than run off into the storm sewer. It is a popular way to reduce nonpoint source pollution and protect our lakes and streams.

These photos are from a rain garden installed in a shallow depression at the Willy Street Coop in Madison, Wisconsin. The pictures were taken when the garden was just planted.

Click on the images for enlargements.

Rain garden at Willy Street Coop

 

 Rain garden at Willy Street Coop
Rain garden at Willy Street Coop

Build your own Rain Garden!

  • "Rain Gardens: A how-to manual for homeowners" [PDF 3.1MB] by Roger Bannerman, DNR
  • University of Wisconsin-Extension - Home and Garden Clean Water Practices website [exit DNR]
  • Information on Smaller Rain Gardens - Get your feet wet with a little bitty rain garden
  • "Build Your Own Rain Garden" by Applied Ecological Services [exit DNR]
  • "Rain Garden Design and Installation" by Applied Ecological Services [exit DNR]
  • "Design Guidelines for Stormwater Bioretention Facilities" by Dustin Atchison, Ken Potter, and Linda Severson
    • A basic bioretention facility is commonly referred to as a rain garden. It is a landscaped garden in a shallow depression that receives storm water from nearby impervious surfaces.
    • This manual provides design guidelines and a numerical model (RECARGA) that can be used for creating bioretention facilities for small-scale stormwater management that promotes infiltration of storm water in order to reduce its volume, improve its quality and increase groundwater recharge.
    • Available at the UW Aquatic Sciences Center website [exit DNR]

Wisconsin Native Plant Lists for Raingardens

Get Kids Involved!

  • Here is a link to an educator's site with lesson plans on protecting water quality:
    • Kidsregen.org [exit DNR]
    • Water Wise Kids - A Growing Solution to Water Pollution: Invite kids to respect rain, ponder puddles, and build healthy gardens to filter filth! [exit DNR]
  • Spring Harbor Rain Gardens - In the spring of 2004, Spring Harbor Middle School was provided with $4,400 through the fundraising efforts of the Leadership Greater Madison Team. The money was used to design and construct a school yard rain garden to reduce the amount of run-off going directly into Lake Mendota.  Students designed a 440 square foot garden to collect water from two downspouts over the northwest corner of the building.  Students will use a double ring infiltrometer and weather station to monitor the amount of water flowing into the garden and will use it to determine the amount of water being sent into the ground, rather than directly into the lake as runoff. [exit DNR]

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