Water- Starting a Rain Garden, Building a Wall

I was so excited to start my new rain garden, did a little web research, checked out some pictures, ran home and started enthusiastically digging. Next day at work, I did a little more research, actually read a bit this time and realized I'd put the rain garden too close to the house. This is bad because the water seeping down can mess up the foundation. Ugh, back home, fill in hole and dig again this time further from house and with far less enthusiasm. Filled it in with a few Irises and some Millet and tried to convince Shermen it was a good idea.

Meanwhile, Shermen is building the cool sandstone wall on East side of house along the drainage ditch he dug last year to keep water away from house / foundation. It looks cool already, can't wait to see it when all the Creeping Thyme, Creeping Jenny, Phlox, Scotch Moss and others start to fill in. I topped off the ridge with some Daisies, decorative grass and Calendula. Should be absolutely lovely in a few weeks.

Rain Gardens

The contractors installed the drainspouts on our four seasons room,or solarium, yesterday. My mom suggested putting in a rain garden where the water collects, and it sounds like a great idea to me! The UW Madison Extension has a very informative site, with a pdf manual on how to install your own little rain garden, as well as some great photos of the installation stages, and pages listing WI plants ideal for sunny or shady rain gardens.


http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/

The plant above is Prairie Smoke, a native to Wisconsin, ideal for rain gardens. Image found on the "Links to Other Rain Garden Sites" from the DNR web-page. http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/links.htm