A raingarden soaks up rain water from roofs, driveways and lawns. It is a landscaped area planted with native plants or cultivars to replace areas of lawn. The garden fills with a few inches of water and allows the water to slowly filter into the ground instead of running off to storm drains.
A raingarden is not intended to be a wetland or a water garden with permanent water. Raingardens are designed so that water soaks into the ground in approximately one day. This way it does not breed mosquitoes.
Compared to a patch of conventional lawn, a raingarden allows 30 percent more water to soak into the ground.
Attend an Introduction Workshop
Several cities are hosting Blue Thumb garden planning workshops on native gardens, raingardens, and native shoreline stabilization. You can learn how to create beautiful gardens to keep water clean by attending a Blue Thumb Introduction Workshop in the spring. The workshop is free, but pre-registration is required.
- Learn how native plants can help clean the water moving through your landscape
- Address wet problem areas in your yard and garden
- Add variety and interest to your landscape by incorporating low maintenance native plants
- Determine the best plants for sun or shade areas
- Select plants best suited for Minnesota's climate and soils
- Make your garden unique
Ready to learn more about designing a raingarden?
After attending the introduction workshop, you're ready to attend a Blue Thumb Raingarden Design Course. This four-hour course lets you work with professionals who will walk through the steps of placement, plant selection, where to purchase materials, and how to install your garden. You create a design plan specific to your yard. Plus, receive a copy of "The Blue Thumb Guide to Raingardens." Raingarden Design Courses are scheduled in the spring.
Stabilize shorelines with native plants
If you live near a pond or a lake, you will be surprised at how you can protect your shoreline and still have plenty of room for your docks, boats, and beach area. Work with professionals to create a beautiful design for your shoreline, learn how to apply for grant money and technical assistance during installation at a Native Shoreline Design Workshop in the spring.
Cost Share
Dakota County and Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District offer grant money to help offset the cost of installation, and can provide technical assistance during the installation of your new garden.
Here's how to get started on your own raingarden
- Draw a base map of your property. Using graph paper, draw your house and property lines. 1 Box = 2 feet.
- Add details to the base map
a. Existing buildings and structures (showing roof ridges & downspout locations)
b. Hard surfaces (driveways, sidewalks, patios, etc.) and their “pitch” direction
c. Existing substantial vegetation (trees and shrubs)
d. Landscape areas (retaining walls, shrub & perennial beds, etc.)
e. Nearby storm-drains / drainage-ways (street-side catch basins or other inlets)
f. Existing topography / slopes (how much does the grade drop in 10’ / 20’)
- Locate utilities and easements and add to the base map
a. Call Gopher One-Call at 800-252-1166 and request locations for all buried utilities
(electrical, gas lines, telephone, cable, other?)
b. Locate any irrigation lines / sprinkler heads and invisible fencing
c. Locate any drainage easements
- Identify potential locations for raingardens. On base map, draw:
a. Where existing runoff water flows (does runoff “sheet-flow” evenly across your property or is it concentrated through certain areas?)
b. Lawn / activity areas that you use and want to plan around (identify areas on the lawn that you frequently use for recreation and areas that are pathways that you want to keep and plan around).
c. Views you want to screen or accent / frame
- Identify sun exposure. Observe your yard on a sunny day. Label sun exposure for potential raingarden areas.
a. Full sun: At least 6 full hours of direct sunlight
b. Partial sun: 3 - 6 hours of sun each day, preferably in the morning and early afternoon
c. Full shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight each day, with filtered sunlight during the rest of the day.
d. No Sun
a. After Gopher ONE has marked all under ground utilities, locate a potential area for a raingarden and use a shovel to dig down about 12 inches. From the bottom of the hole remove about 1 cup of soil.
a. Pick attractive plants that you like.
b. Keep in mind the sun exposure. Most of the plants like full sun to partial shade. Raingardens can also work in shady areas, but need a little more careful plant selection.
c. A raingarden is not a wetland. It is not intended to hold water permanently. Plants that like average to moist conditions typically do well. If you choose plants that prefer wet to saturated conditions, you may need to water them during the summer.