Create your own raingarden

 

 

What is a raingarden?

Raingardens are landscaping features which capture stormwater from paving, roads and hard surfaces, filtering it to remove pollutants before it reaches the bay. Raingardens can be built into a range of different features such as nature strips, traffic islands, and your own garden and can be vegetated, grassed, or simple rock gardens.

At home they can be established in planter boxes or in the garden itself, and should be located to receive water from hard surfaces around your home, such as roofs and paving. By placing them under downpipes you can best ensure the raingarden is located above or near the main stormwater drain running from your home.

Then build your raingarden! Raingardens consist of a layer of soil, such as sandy loam, over a drainage layer of gravel of sand, which allows water to filter through to the stormwater drain. Using a perforated pipe to connect the raingarden to the drain is the best way to ensure treated stormwater is heading in the right direction.

 

Why are they so good?

Once established, raingardens don't need to be watered or fertilized and are drought-resistant, particularly if using native plants and shrubs. Consider fibrous rooted plants which allow water to percolate well through the selected soil and gravel, an can tolerate short periods of inundation followed by dry periods. For some recommendations on relevant species refer to your local nursery or Sustainable Gardening Australia. 

To keep your raingarden functioning well, weed regularly and replace plants if lost to drought or disease. Mulch with rocks and pebbles so as to not clog the stormwater drains with organic mulch. Occasionally observe your raingarden after rain to check infiltration and water capture by the system continues as originally designed. And last but not least, do not compact the soil by walking or driving over your raingarden. This will make sure that water can continue to freely drain through the soil to stormwater.

For more information refer to Melbourne Water's guidelines on how to build a raingarden.