Tussiemussie's Blog

Rain Gardens - turning it to our advantage.

Posted on 23 Jul, 2007 2 comments

It seems like this heavy rainfall is here to stay. Let’s pool our brains to learn how to live with it ? I have just been reading a Telegraph article on Rain Gardens and it was quite interesting.
Instead of rushing the water down drains they slow it down with roof gardens and channel it into water features,with run offs into planting areas, giving time for some to be taken up by plants and also evaporation. Paths should be permeable, gravel or bark to allow drainage, no concrete. I have found raised beds helps drainage for plants. At Yalding we saw up-ended green wine bottles used to make a very attractive raised edging, so one could recycle at the same time, and it needn’t cost a fortune! They had protected their peach with polythene cover on a wood frame to prevent leaf curl and it was fruiting nicely, that might work for cane fruit too to keep the ripening fruit dry. No doubt there will be periods of drought too, but that should be helped if we slow down water loss and mulch.
Does anyone else have more suggestions?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening Click on rain garden
by blue/white shed.

Comments

Hamish

25 Jul, 2007

good ideas, my problem is that soon as I plan a rain garden we will have a heatwave and drought!!!!

Tussiemussie

25 Jul, 2007

Hamish, if you can find the article you will realise as I did that it could help in drought situations as well as when it's wet. Instead of water going rushing down the drain it's slowed dow, utilised and stored.

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