Control flooding with a rain garden

If you have an area on your property that continually floods, you might consider planting an environmentally friendly rain garden. The idea of a rain garden is to hold storm water from a low area or capture water coming off your home and garage, and hold it in a retaining pool which is really a garden. Normally the rain garden will hold all of the excess water, but as a backup a trench or swale is also recommended, usually off the garage area, which will collect any water that the rain garden can't contain.

By selecting low maintenance deep rooted perennial plants native to your area, along with grasses that absorb rainwater runoff, you can virtually eliminate the need to water while also controlling areas prone to flooding during times of excessive rains. They also help control pollution. And as functional as a rain garden is, it will also add beauty to your yard if you select plants that bloom at different times throughout the season. A good plant for a rain garden here in Northwest Ohio also known as "The Black Swamp" is this beautiful Echinacea:



If you'd like more information, check out this site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called "Landscaping with native plants." Another good source is the Rain Garden Network, from which I got the above example of how beautiful a rain garden can be.