►
Description
Rain gardens protect the environment while adding aesthetic value to your property. Learn from the experts about how to install this natural storm water runoff garden.
A
Our
mission
is
to
promote
gardening
and
beautifying
communities,
but
we're
also
very
interested
in
ecological
facets
of
landscape
design,
primarily
water-wise
landscaping,
and
that's
basically,
the
gist
of
our
rain
garden
workshop
today
is
protecting
our
lakes,
rivers
and
streams
and,
ultimately
oceans.
As
you
will
see
in
our
presentation.
A
few
notes
I'd
like
to
get
share
before
we
get
started
with
the
presentation,
is
I'd
like
to
encourage
everybody
to
take
a
look
at
the
9
Mile
Creek
watershed
district
cost
share
application.
A
A
If
you
don't
live
a
nine-mile
Creek
watershed
district,
don't
worry
all
of
the
watershed
districts
in
the
Trent
Twin
Cities
metro
area
have
cost
share
programs
like
this,
so
that
when
we
get
done
with
our
rain
garden,
presentation
and
you're
all
sold
on
the
idea
of
how
awesome
rain
gardens
are,
you
can
go
to
your
watershed
district
and
see
about
getting
some
financial
help
putting
one
in
your
yard.
Another
thing
is,
we
do
a
bunch
of
workshops
throughout
our
season
and
on
page
2
of
your
book,
you'll
find
our
workshop
schedule
like
I
said.
A
Metro
blooms
is
all
about
promoting
gardening,
beautifying
communities
and
healing
our
environment.
Over
the
last
six
years,
we've
installed
about
500
rain
gardens
ourselves
with
help
from
the
Minnesota
Conservation
Corps
and
we've
inspired
residents
to
design
and
build
their
own
in
about
two
or
three
thousand
residents
throughout
the
Twin
Cities
metro
region.
A
So
we're
doing
a
pretty
dang
good
job,
but
there's
a
lot
to
be
done,
and
so
that's
why
I'm
really
thrilled
to
be
here
and
I'm
glad
that
you're
all
here
to
take
a
look
at
what
rain
gardening
is
all
about
and
how
you
can
maybe
start.
Looking
at
your
your
own
yard,
my
own
personal
belief
is
that
every
piece
of
property
should
have
some
way
of
dealing
with
stormwater.
The
way
that
our
stormwater
system
is
now
is
collect.
A
A
Here
we've
got.
You
know
what
a
rain
garden
can
look
like:
they
can
take
any
size,
shape
or
form
they
can
have
any
plants
you
want
to
put
in
them
as
long
as
they're
native
or
not
as
long
as
they're
Hardy
to
Minnesota.
So
you'll
see
a
lot
of
native
plantings
and
you've
seen
a
lot
of
rain
gardens
that
are
very
wild.
Looking
and
prairie.
Looking
my
whole
thing
is
they
can
be
whatever
you
want
them
to
be.
A
As
long
as
you
give
a
place
for
water
to
sit
for
just
a
little
bit
for
plants
to
take
it
up
and
do
their
work
with
the
soil
infiltrating
the
water
into
the
ground,
so
they
can
have
whatever
design
you
want.
Whatever
plants
you
want
and
that's
you
know,
one
of
my
big
takeaways
from
this
another
big
takeaway
I
have
is
that
it's
really
very
easy
to
do.
Well,
I
mean
it's
an
easy
concept.
A
The
hard
work
of
digging
is,
you
know
you
can
decide
for
yourself
how
you
feel
about
that,
but
really
I
want
to
I
want
to
convey
that
it's
not
rocket
science
and
that
everybody
can
do
it
and
I
really
want
to
try
to
empower
people
to
do
it,
because
I
believe
that
we
all
need
to
be
doing
it
in
our
proper
we're
gonna
talk
a
little
bit
about
what
storm
water
is
all
about.
Basically
called
the
storm
water
story.
A
You
know,
get
some
big
picture
idea,
but
what's
why
storm
water
is
a
problem
and
what
storm
water
runoff
looks
like
and
where
it
goes,
etc.
We're
gonna
and
then
we're
gonna
get
into.
You
know,
redesigning
our
conventional
system
and
look
at
how
rain
gardens
can
work
in
your
own
yard
and
how
you
can
design
your
own,
we'll
take
a
look
at
maintenance
of
rain
gardens,
we'll
look
at
other
different
practices
that
people
can
put
in
their
yards
and
we'll
look
at
some
example
projects.
A
If
we
have
time
we're
really
keyed
in
on
water,
smart
landscaping,
because
we're
very
interested
in
protecting
our
streams,
rivers,
lakes
and
oceans.
We
live
on
a
water
planet.
71%
of
our
planet
is
water,
but
only
three
percent
of
that
is
fresh
water,
three
percent.
Only
ninety
percent
of
the
three
percent
is
available
for
use.
That's
seven,
one
thousandth
of
a
percent
of
the
water
that
we
live
with
it
on
a
planet,
that's
available
for
human
use.
That's
everything
from
drinking
flushing,
your
toilet!
A
Doing
your
laundry
doing
your
dishes
power,
washing
your
house
power,
washing
your
driveway
whatever
it
is
that
you're
doing
with
the
water
fracking
your
lawn
irrigation
everything!
That's
all,
and
it
comes
out
of
that
seven,
one
thousandth
of
a
percent,
because
that's
what
we
can
use
so
precious
commodity.
If
you
think
about
it,
we
understand
novel
of
us
pretty
much
about
the
water
cycle
and
how
the
water
cycle
works.
We
learn
this
in
science.
Here's
a
pretty
good
idea
of
like
before
development.
A
What
you
know
the
water
was
doing
on
our
planet
and
you
can
see
in
the
top
left
corner
that
that
rainfall
is
really
the
key
aspect
of
how
our
aquifers
and
groundwater
is
recycled
and
reused
and
becomes
available
for
us
to
use
as
it
moves
through
the
bedrock
in
feeding
streams
and
Springs
and
rivers
and
oceans.
It's
really
the
rainwater
falling
into
the
ground
and
infiltrating
in
the
ground.
That
is
the
big
source
of
our
groundwater.
That
we
have
primarily
you
know
of
interest,
is
the
for
drink,
because
drinking
is
really
I
mean.
A
That's
the
key
to
our
existence
before
run
off
or
I
mean
before
development.
Only
about
10%
of
water
would
run
off
of
the
ground.
Most
of
it
was
infiltrated
either
25%
in
shallow
or
25%
deep
in
filtration.
If,
as
we
start
to
develop
the
surface
of
the
earth,
even
just
having
10
to
20
percent
addition
of
impervious
surface
can
drastically
increase
the
amount
of
runoff.
A
When
we
look
at
like
a
smaller
kind
of
rural
community,
four
or
five
thousand
people-
and
we
got
about
35
to
50
percent
impervious
surfaces,
our
mount
of
runoff
is
30%
and
when
we
look
at
a
city
like
Minneapolis
or
Bloomington,
where
we've
got
75
to
100
percent,
concrete
jungle
on
everything,
we're
getting
very
high
amount
of
runoff
compared
to
what
was
happening
before
and,
most
importantly
is
just
kind
of
looking
at.
You
know
the
five
to
ten
percent.
That's
actually
allowed
to
infiltrate
and
recharge
our
groundwater
supply.
Now,
okay,
runoff!
Really
you
know
it's!
A
A
That
is,
you
know,
pollution
where
we
can
point
right
at
the
source
of-
and
we
can
say
that's
where
it's
coming
from
it's
an
industry,
it's
a
farm
field,
that's
something
we
can
regulate
that!
We
can
manage
that,
but
with
non
point
source
pollution,
we
don't
know
all
of
the
places
where
it's
coming
from
I
mean
some
of
it's
coming
from
your
neighbor's
house.
A
Some
of
us
coming
from
yours,
some
of
it's
coming
from
this
parking
lot
over
here,
there's
no
one
particular
spot
where
we
can
point
to
where
it's
all,
it's
all
flowing
together
in
a
weird
way
across
the
landscape
and
it's
very,
very,
very
difficult
to
regulate
it
and
there's
really
no
way
that
they
have
found
yet
to
regulate
it
and
be
able
to.
You
know,
come
up
with
some
way
of
really
dealing
with
it.
A
We've
got
curb
and
gutter
all
the
water
is
going
away
from
our
properties,
that's
great,
because
then
we
want
to
get
water
in
our
basements
right,
well,
yeah,
but
there's
also
some
really
negative
parts.
So
part
of
the
the
part
of
the
thing
that
we're
trying
to
show
is
that
maybe,
if
we
kind
of
reimagine
what
our
yards
and
our
design
and
how
we,
you
know,
basically
design
our
properties.
A
A
typical
1,500
square
foot
house,
for
example,
is
close
to
a
thousand
gallons
of
runoff,
just
in
a
one
inch
rain
event,
so
90
to
95
percent
of
rain
events
are
one
inch
or
less
in
a
one
inch
rain
event,
just
a
nice
light
rain
within
24
hours.
It's
about
a
thousand
gallons.
We
got
another
600
or
so
off.
Your
driveway
we've
got
about
4,000
coming
off
of
your
green,
concrete
that
compacted
lawn
in
which
you
live,
so
it
mean
we're
looking
at
about.
A
You
know,
5422
gallons,
on
a
typical
Minneapolis
residence
of
stormwater
in
just
a
one-inch
rain
event
in
24
hours
yearly.
We
have
about
30
inches,
that's
about
170,000,
gallons
of
water
and
just
kind
of
as
a
idea
we
use
about
a
hundred
and
thirty
thousand
per
household,
so
we're
running
off
a
huge
amount
even
more
than
what
we're
actually
using.
A
And
so
when
we're
looking
at
you
know,
fifty
five
hundred
coming
from
your
property
in
one
rain
event
imagine
a
whole
entire
neighborhood
and
how
much
runoff
that
is,
and
the
most
important
thing
is
where
that
runoff
goes
and
what
that
runoff
brings
along
with
it.
Gunk
lots
of
sediment
lots
of
nutrients,
bacterias,
salt,
organic
matter,
oils,
heavy
metal
trash,
the
worst
cigarette
butts
because
they're
little
sponges
of
toxins,
and
it
all
basically
ends
up
in
a
storm
drain.
A
And
it's
amazing
to
me
how
many
people
think
that
storm
drains
go
to
a
treatment
facility
and
is
treated,
and
you
know
basically
put
back
into
a
drinking
water
system
or
whatever
it's
not.
This
is
directly
where
it
goes
right
into
the
river,
and
these
are
Minneapolis
storm
drains
into
the
Mississippi.
A
This,
like
increase
in
sediment
and
petroleum
products,
seriously
disrupts
natural
processes.
Only
one
quart
of
motor
oil
can
basically
disrupt
250,000
gallons
of
water.
Here
we've
got
Valley
Lake
in
the
city
of
Lakeville,
and
you
can
just
see
the
huge
algae
bloom.
This
process
of
adding
all
this
natural
or
artificial
substances
is
called
nutrifix.
A
A
This
is
Sunset
pond
and
Burnsville.
You
can
see
the
sediment
decreasing
all
the
availability
of
light
that
seriously
diminishes
any
ability
for
plants
to
live
in
the
water
and
without
plants,
there's
no
oxygen
without
oxygen.
There's
no
fish
and
there's
really
no
life
in
the
water
at
all.
Coma
lake
is
very
often
closed
down
due
to
coliform
bacteria,
which
is
like
a
you
know,
nasty
poop
bacteria
that
comes
from
believe
it
or
not,
mostly
pet
waste.
So
even
just
those
little
tiny
dog
turds
can
cause
huge
problems
that
shuts
down
coma
lake.
A
Where
don't
go
near
it
because
of
the
coliform
bacteria
and
here's
Powderhorn
lake
in
minneapolis,
huge
algae
blooms
due
to
the
amount
of
added
nutrients?
So
it's
not
just
like
it's
not
just
the
like
things
you
would
think
of
as
pollutants
like
you
know:
metals
and
oil
and
petroleum
products,
but
even
excess,
nitrogen
and
phosphorus.
Are
they
really
the
biggest
problem?
Because
nitrogen
and
phosphorus
fuel,
these
algae
blooms
and
when
the
algae
dies,
the
process
of
decay
basically
sucks
all
the
oxygen
out
of
the
out
of
the
water
source
so
take
away
we're
all
connected.
A
Our
yards
are
all
connected
directly
through
storm
drains
to
our
lakes,
streams
and
rivers,
and
you
know
that's
why
we're
here
today,
to
kind
of
you
know,
show
that
connection
and
talk
about
you
know
watersheds.
If
you
look,
you
can
see
the
outlines
of
counties,
and
you
know
that
there's
all
those
city
boundaries
and
thin
those
counties
and
those
watersheds
they
don't
they
don't
they
don't
ascribe
to
any
of
those
politically
political
boundaries
at
all.
They
have
their
own
boundaries
and
they're.
They
basically
transect
all
county
regional
state
city
boundaries
they're
very
thin.
A
So
it's
very
difficult
to
manage
these
types
of
things,
but
our
watershed
districts
are
amazing
organizations,
and
this
is
basically
the
political
boundaries
that
they
have
to
work
with.
It's
just
kind
of
a
you
know
interesting
thing
from
my
perspective
to
deal
with
all
those
different
types
of
political
organizations
and
do
such
a
good
job
at
making
a
difference
all
right
and,
of
course,
here's
the
the
Mississippi,
the
bigger
Mississippi
River
watershed
flowing
down
to
the
Gulf
and
here's
the
Gulf
on
the
Left.
We
have
all
the
sediment
that's
coming
out
on
the
right.
A
We
have
the
the
Gulf
of
Mexico,
so
you
can
see
this
like
distinct
difference
of
water
coming
out
of
the
Mississippi
River,
and
then
we
have
this
aerial
satellite
view
of
the
lack
of
oxygen
in
the
water.
So
the
red
is
basically
no
oxygen.
It's
the
it's!
This
hypoxic
dead
zone
that
inspired
farm
of
shrimp
fishermen
from
Louisiana
to
come
through
up
to
stearns,
county
minnesota
and
talk
to
the
dairy
farmers
and
say:
look
here's
what's
happening.
This
stuff
is
ending
up
here
and
it's
affecting
our
farm
industry,
our
agriculture,
our
economic
vitality.
A
From
what
you're
doing
very
interesting
story,
all
right,
that's
the
the
bleak
part
now
we're
gonna
get
on
to
the
good
news,
part
of
it.
What
we
can
do
to
redesign
this
system,
particularly
in
urban
environments.
There's
lots
of
really
cool
things
that
cities
and
commercial
industries
are
doing
to
kind
of
really
step
up
green
infrastructure,
some
beautiful
ways
to
deal
with
stormwater
runoff
there's.
These
are
becoming
more
and
more
common.
Where
you
see
water,
infiltrating
off
parking
lots
and
of
course
we
have
a
beautiful
metro,
blooms,
rain
garden.
A
A
The
key
to
rain
gardens
is
the
roots
of
the
native
plants.
These
roots,
as
you
can
see,
are
distinctly
different
than
Kentucky
bluegrass,
which
is
our
you
know.
What
most
of
our
lawns
are
made
up?
We
have
three
inches
of
roots,
very
compacted
soil,
remember
from
the
machines
that
go
into
developing
our
properties
with
native
roots,
they're
phenomenal,
and
they
do
all
the
work
if
we
set.
A
If
we
give
them
just
a
little
bit
of
a
head
start,
we
excavate
the
soil,
loosen
it
up
a
little
bit,
Aysen,
get
that
soil,
nice
and
loose
and
take
care
of
those
plants
for
a
few
years
until
they
mature.
Then
their
roots
are
going
to
engineer
the
soil
better
than
anybody
can
ever
imagine
I
mean
this
is
18
feet
into
the
ground.
This
is
some
of
our
natives
that
we
are
common.
These
are
all
common
natives
and
rain
gardens
and
you
can
see.
A
Even
you
know,
the
ones
with
just
a
few
feet
of
height
can
have
substantial
roots
structure,
so
you
don't
have
to
have
you
know
nine-foot
plants
in
your
front
yard,
looking
like
a
jungle
in
order
to
make
it
work,
we
can
have
small
plants
with
ginormous
roots
that
are
going
to
do
an
incredible
job
of
creating
channels
for
water
to
infiltrate
down
into
the
ground.
That's
why?
A
Even
if
you
have
clay
soil,
you
know
you
can
you
can
count
on
these
plants
if
you
can
get
them
mature,
you
can
count
on
these
plants
to
break
that
clay
up
and
provide
those
channels.
30%
of
the
plant
root
will
die
every
year
and
you
know
that
much
more
will
grow.
So
when
you
have
30
percent
of
the
plant,
material
dying
and
decaying
you've
got
those
channels
for
water
to
move
through
in
the
dead
root
structure.
A
You
know
before
we
talk
about
designing
them
and
building
them.
The
big
thing
is
I
have
been
asked
this
a
million
times
as
mosquitoes
and
we're
not
creating
a
pond.
You
know
the
whole
key
to
a
rain
garden
is
you're
going
to
get
water
in
there
and
it
needs
to
drain
in
24
hours
24
to
30
hours,
but
we
always
try
to
design
them
to
have
you
know
water
be
held
in
there
for
24
hours
and
completely
infiltrate
within
a
day.
A
Mosquitoes
require
a
week,
at
least
for
most
varieties
of
mosquitoes,
just
to
lay
their
eggs
for
the
eggs
to
hatch
for
the
large
larvae
to
become
mosquitoes
that
can
fly
away
at
least
a
week
on
I.
Think
the
the
fastest
turnaround
on
a
specie
of
myth
of
mosquito
is
six
days.
So,
if
you're
draining
in
24
hours,
what
you're
actually
getting
is
you're
getting
mosquitoes
landing,
they're
laying
eggs
and
then
it's
all
draining
away
and
then
their
eggs
die.
So
it's
kind
of
interesting
to
think
about
how
they
actually
in
some
regards
our
mosquito
traps.
A
A
All
right
so
I
think
we're
gonna
start
getting
into
your
notes
here
when
you're
kind
of
thinking
about
designing
your
own
rain
garden.
A
good
thing
to
know
is
where
your
utilities
are
make
sure
you
kind
of
get
an
idea
and
go
for.
One
is
an
easy.
It's
an
easy
call:
they'll
come
over
they'll
mark
all
your
all
your
things,
so
that
you
can,
you
know,
figure
out
whether
or
not
you'll
be
able
to
if
excavate
there
and
put
in
a
rain
garden.
A
It's
a
good
first
step
a
lot
of
times.
People
are
concerned
about
water
in
their
basements.
I,
wouldn't
want
to
say,
hey,
go,
build
a
rain
garden
and
then
not
tell
you
and
then,
like
you
know,
you
build
it
right
against
your
house
and
then
you
have
water
into
your
basement.
Then
you
blame
the
rain
garden
and
you
call
Metro
blooms.
You
say:
Metro
blooms
told
us
to
do
a
rain
garden.
We
did
it
now.
We've
bait
water
in
our
basement,
so
build
a
10
feet
away
from
your
foundation,
and
you
won't
have
that
problem.
A
Also,
it's
very
easy
to
get
an
idea
of
from
the
county
about
where
your
property
line
is
any
easements.
Any
idea
from
the
city
about
you
know,
restrictions
that
you
might
have
some
cities
and
boulevards
and
such
have
a
high
tree
quite
limit,
so
I
mean
if
you
go
over
two
or
three
feet
you
gotta
run
into
problems,
so
just
kind
of
do
you'll
do
a
little
bit
of
homework
ahead
of
time.
This
is
included
in
your
notes.
A
To
kind
of
give
you
a
you
know
a
little
checklist
for
yourself
when
you
go
to
build
your
own
rain
garden.
Basic
keys
are
hydrology.
Hydrology
is
basically
where's
water
coming
from
on
the
site.
How
is
it
moving?
Where
is
it
going?
It's
basically,
the
movement
of
water
across
the
landscape,
we'll
go
over
some
siting
and
some
siding
or
sizing
things
that
we
have
we'll
go
through
the
installation
process.
We'll
talk
about
different
conveyance
techniques
and
we'll
talk
about
plant
material
selection.
A
Like
I
said
you
want
to
kind
of
get
an
idea
of
where's
water's
coming
from
so
think
about
your
roof.
Think
about
where
downspouts
are
think
about
your
driveway
and
how
your
driveway
drains
is
it
all
going
out
to
the
street?
Do
you
have
any
place
in
your
property
that
you
can
intercept?
The
flow
of
stormwater
is
particularly
from
impervious
surfaces.
You
know,
there's
it's
like
grant
water,
that's
falling
on
the
grass
it's
very
compacted
and
it's
not
necessarily
infiltrating
like
it
would
a
rain
gar.
A
But
when
you
really
want
to
do,
is
you
want
to
try
to
catch
water
from
your
roof
or
your
driveway?
And
so
you
know
kind
of
think
about
your
your
property
sketch
it
out.
Maybe
if
you
need
to
and
just
try
to
think
about,
where
water's
flowing
most
properties
have
water
flowing
in
multiple
different
directions,
and
so
most
properties
have
several
different
places
where
they
could
intercept
and
collect
storm
water.
A
If
you
think
that
helps,
and
it
can
help
you
figure
out
where
you
want
to
site
your
garden
all
right,
you
got
downspouts
coming
off
here,
your
10
or
so
feet
away
10
to
20
feet.
You
don't
have
any
utility
lines
going
in
great
spot
for
a
rain
garden,
super
alright,
and
so
now
you
kind
of
got
that
idea.
A
A
Now
that
you've
kind
of
got
an
idea
where
it
would
work.
The
coolest
thing
that
you
can
do
the
best
thing
that
you
can
do
is
kind
of
start
getting
an
idea
of
how
deep
you
want
to
make
your
rain
garden,
because
depth
is
the
biggest
consideration.
It's
the
most
important
design
parameter
because
the
depth
is
going
to
decide
how
long
it's
going
to
take
for
that
water
to
infiltrate.
That
makes
sense.
So
within
24
hours,
you're
gonna
have
all
that
water.
That's
gonna
fill
up
your
rain
garden.
A
You
want
to
know
how
fast
that
water
is
gonna
drain
out.
So
a
really
cool
trick
is
make
a
copy.
Can
size
hole
in
your
yard?
Fill
it
up
completely
with
water.
Let
it
completely
drain
out,
so
it
saturates,
the
soil
all
around
and
then
fill
it
up
again
and
then
in
your
folders
you
got
a
little
stick.
You
can
stick
that
stick
into
the
top
of
the
water
level.
Fill
it
up.
You
have
that
stick
at
the
top
water
is
going
to
drain
out
slowly
over
the
course
of
an
hour.
A
So
you
take
a
little
ruler
and
you
measure
the
distance
from
the
stick
down
to
the
top
of
the
water.
Now,
if
you
get
like,
let's
say
you
know:
it's
a
quarter-inch.
Okay,
it's
gone
down
a
quarter-inch
in
one
hour,
so
you
multiply
the
quarter-inch
times
24
hours
in
a
day
and
you
get
a
depth,
it's
kind
of
a
really
simple,
easy
way.
It's
not
exactly
rocket
science,
it's
certainly
not
civil
engineering,
but
it's
enough
of
a
it's
enough
of
an
indication
for
you
a
resident
to
go
and
say:
okay,
I
got
water,
draining.
A
Alright,
awesome!
It's
infiltrating!
This
is
how
fast
it's
infiltrating.
If
you
get
an
eighth
of
an
inch
and
you
divide
that
by
24
hours,
probably
you
have
some
clay
in
your
soil,
so
make
your
rain
garden
three
inches
deep.
If
you
have
you
know,
half
an
inch
of
water,
I
mean
you:
can
you
can
easily?
You
know,
look
and
say:
okay,
I
could
infiltrate.
A
A
Well,
if
you're
infiltrating
enough
water,
that
you
could
build
a
rain
garden
with
12
inches
great
you'll,
because
you'll
be
you'll,
be
throwing
water
at
it
like
crazy.
But
you
don't
want
to
make
it
any
deeper
than
12
inches,
because
the
plant
material
that
you're
going
to
put
in
there
can't
handle
over
a
foot
of
water
and
we'll
talk
about
that.
A
little
more
when
we're
looking
at
plants
does
that
make
sense,
because
you're
gonna
cuz
you're,
gonna,
you're
gonna,
put
you're
gonna.
A
Have
this
rain
garden,
where
you're
going
to
put
plants
in
the
basin
of
this
rain
garden
and
you're,
going
to
have
a
foot
of
water
filling
up
covering
those
plants
and
the
plant
material
that
you're
gonna
put
in
there
doesn't
want
to
have
it
deeper
than
one
foot
the
it's
like
if
it
has
a
water
on
top
yeah,
so
yeah.
So
your
rain
garden.
A
A
Got
slides
that
show
this
better
and
you'll
get,
but
this
this
little
simple,
simple
step
here.
This
percolation
test
is
great,
so
this
will
kind
of
help.
You
decide
your
depth.
Okay,
you
know
it's
nice
to
tie
it
in
to
existing
landscaping,
usually
about
8
or
10
8
foot
by
10
foot
is
plenty
for
one
downspout
on
a
residential
property.
It's
about
80
square
feet.
Most
of
the
rain
gardens
I
install
are
about
100
to
150
square
feet
for
some
bigger
properties,
but
for
a
smaller
property
handling.
Just
one
downspout,
that's
a
good
general
size.
A
We
do
have
some.
You
know
kind
of
simplified
version
of
sizing,
rain
gardens,
because
people
like
to
do
math
problems
sometimes,
and
so
this
could
be.
You
know
one
way
that
you
could
use
to
kind
of
decide
on
what
size
you
want.
Basically,
the
area
of
your
drainage
primarily
impervious
surface,
divided
by
the
depth
that
you've
got
from
your
percolation
test
and
that
kind
of
can
give
you
an
idea
about
the
square
footage
that
you
might
want
to
use.
A
So
here's
a
cross-section
of
a
rain
garden
right.
This
is
where
water's
coming
in
and
waters
gonna
flow
into
here
right
and
it's
gonna.
It's
gonna
basically
fill
up
this
area.
Some
of
its
going
to
infiltrate
right
away
like
your
coffee,
can
is
going
to
saturate
the
soil
once
the
soil
saturate
it's
going
to
start
to
pool
on
top
and
that
pool
on
top
is
going
to
go
to
the
depth
that
you've
basically
engineered
for
it,
based
on
where
you've
started.
How
you
shaped
this
Basin
with
your
shovel
right
now.
A
So
this
is
gonna
fill
up,
and
you
don't
want
this
depth
from
here
to
here
this
this
Basin,
you
don't
want
that
basin,
any
more
than
12
inches.
In
fact,
I
wouldn't
do
it
any
more
than
9
inches.
Usually
I
do
about
6
to
9
inches,
because
you're
gonna
plant
plants
in
here
that
are
gonna
be
able
to
take
that
inundation,
but
they
don't
want
more
than
a
foot.
You
know
it's
easy
to
build
them
on
the
sides
of
steeper
slopes
as
well.
A
You
can
use
some
of
this
cut
over
here
to
create
a
berm
over
here.
You
just
want
to
make
sure
that
your
spot
here
is
lower
than
your
spot
here.
That
elevation
is
really
just
crucial
and
if
you
spend
a
little
time
with
it,
you'll
understand
it's.
It's
really
quite
a
simple
concept
and
there's
different
ways
that
you
can
go
about,
creating
that
that
bowl,
that
flat
bottom
basin
bowl
for
your
rain
garden,
the
easiest
way
and
the
way
that
I
always
use
is
just
a
little
line
level
and
sometimes
I
just
eyeball
it.
A
To
be
honest
with
you,
you
just
want
to
get
this
as
flat
as
you
possibly
can,
so
that
the
water
evenly
distributes
up
throughout
the
rain
garden,
so
you're
maximizing
the
amount
of
volume
that
you
can
hold
in
the
basin
and
some
people
use
laser
levels
and
stuff,
particularly
in
commercial
projects.
You
want
to
be
more
exact
because
you
don't
want
to
screw
it
up
so,
but
just
for
your
own
home,
hey
use
a
line
level
good
to
go
all
right,
so
we're
gonna
kind
of
walk
through
this.
You
know
laying
out
your
garden.
A
This
is
my
favorite
tool
for
rain
garden,
installation,
asad
kicker,
and
you
can
rent
these
for
5
bucks
from
ready
rents
and
it
basically
just
chops
the
top
layer
of
sod
right
off
so
that
you
can
basically
roll
it
up,
and
you
can
even
put
it
on
Craigslist
and
say:
hey
I
got
Sode
come
pick
it
up,
and
some
of
you
come
pick
it
up
for
you
and
it's
true.
It
happens
if
the
people
will
call
within
an
hour
sometimes
and
they'll.
A
Just
come
pick
up
this
side
because
everybody
wants
sod,
I
mean
I've,
had
jobs
where
it's
like
I'm
doing
a
rain
garden
and
I
picked
the
sod
up,
I,
bring
it
over
to
the
neighbors
and
then
I
don't
have
to
pay
to
excavate
it
or
move
it
somewhere
else,
because
it's
that's
the
most
emotive
piece
for
our
projects.
Even
these
little
residential
projects,
where
you
know
you've
got
an
80
to
100
foot
square
foot,
rain
garden.
A
Sand
is
a
great
thing
to
add.
Whenever
we
do
amended
soils
with
our
projects,
we
do
pretty
much
70%
sand
mixed
with
30
percent
compost.
Sometimes
we'll
do
like
a
60/40
sand,
compost,
sometimes
a
70/30
and
just
getting
that
extra
sand
in
there.
It's
super
great
for
helping
with
the
infiltration
and
loosening
the
soil.
A
Well,
it's
hopefully
hopefully
no
dirt,
it
would.
Hopefully
you
know:
you'll
you'll
dig
out
all
of
the
topsoil.
You
know
that
you
have,
and
you
know
you
kind
of
move
that
and
pile
that
and
get
rid
of
it.
So
you'll
have
that
Basin
and
then
you
can
go
in
and
you
can
amend
it
with
the
sand
and
the
compost.
And
hopefully
your
compost
is
done
right,
where
it's,
it
is
30
percent
dirt.
A
So
to
speak
already
because
I
mean
most
compost
is
dirt
brown,
stuff,
green
stuff,
all
composted,
so
you
have
that
enriched
soil,
so
to
speak,
and
you
know
basically,
when
you
get
down
under
six
inches,
you've
taken
a
whole
bunch
of
topsoil
off,
and
you
know
a
bunch
of
nutrients
have
gone
away
and
you're
getting
at
some
of
this.
The
you
know
whatever
existed
in
your
native
soils,
which
is
probably
you
know,
maybe
hit
or
miss
what
kind
of
organic
materials
in
it.
A
But
the
great
thing
is
is
we'll
talk
about
this
is
the
plants
that
you're
gonna
put
in
here
are
gonna,
be
just
fine,
they're
gonna
love
it
and
then
you
know
grading
it
smoothing.
It
kind
of
creating
your
your
base
in
your
bed.
You
know
sloping
your
sides
to
the
middle,
making
sure
that
you're
getting
the
bottom
flat
and
basically
we're
just
giving
those
plants
a
super
great
place
to
live
so
that
they
can
do
their
work
at
creating
of
the
infiltration
here's
Rusty
using
his
line
level.
It's
yes.
A
He's
asking
about
clay
soils,
and
maybe
there's
some
amendment
that
you
can
use
to
help
break
down
the
clay
I
would
just
use
sand.
I
would
get
I
would,
if
you
have
clay
like
right
in
this,
like
at
the
top
kind
of
I,
would
try
to
maybe
excavate
out
as
much
as
you
possibly
physically
can
before
you
fall
over
and
end
up
in
an
emergency
room
and
I've
actually
experienced
soils
that
were
so
compacted
clay
that
you
couldn't
get
through
with
a
pick.
A
In
that
case,
maybe
just
scrap
it
really
good
idea:
I,
don't
try
to
do
the
best
you
can
with
the
soil
that
you
get
I
mean
I've
literally
found
like
a
clay
pan
in
yards
at
three
inch
depth
where
it
was
like.
I
can't
do
anything
with
this.
This
isn't
working
and
I
found
another
place
in
the
yard,
where
mysteriously
there
was
a
sand.
Think
so
I
just
dug
it.
There
instead
kind
of
thing,
but
do
the
best
you
can
with
breaking
up
the
clay
and
sand
is
super
great.
A
It's
cheaper
to
I,
think
gypsum
might
work,
I
guess
to
help
break
it
up,
but
sand
is
readily
available
and
easy,
though
pee
will
be
loosening
it
up
mostly
and
just
giving
those
plants
an
opportunity
for
their
roots
to
grow
and
get
through
that
first
year
of
growth
once
they
pass
that
first
year
of
growth
get
into
the
second
year
of
growth
and
they
start
to
mature
their
their
roots.
Are
gonna
break
that
up
really
well,
and
does
that
answer
your
question.
A
Yeah,
you
have
to
do
some
research
but
yeah
a
lot
of
the
plants
I'll
show
you
will
do
just
fine
in
the
clay
they
just
need
to.
They
just
need
to
that.
First
year
of
babying,
you
know
and
we'll
talk
about
that
a
little
bit
more.
Yes,
you
can
do
that.
Well,
usually
what
I
do
is
I
just
call
our
company
and
just
have
the
mix
pre-mixed.
So
you
can.
You
can
specify
when
you
call
up
whoever
you're
gonna
use,
not
gonna.
A
You
know,
sell
anybody
get
in
trouble,
but
you
can
you
can
contact
places
that
supply
those
things
and
you
get
a
premix,
but
if
you
don't
have
that
available,
you
can
certainly
do
it
yourself.
It's
easy.
Sometimes
you
just
put
the
sand
in
then
you
put
the
compost
in
and
you
just
you
know,
boom
done.
Yes,
I,
just
yeah
plain
sand,
just
whatever
kind
of
sand
like
it
can
even
be,
it
doesn't
have
to
be
like
superfine
playground
sand.
Even
it
can
be
kind
of
mixed
mixed
sizes
and
particles
you're.
A
Basically,
just
you
know
creating
pore
space
in
the
soil,
so
I
wouldn't
necessarily
use
gravel,
because
gravel
has
like
fines
that
bind
and
create
and
actually
hinder,
infiltration
what's
and
doesn't
have
any
of
that
in
it.
It's
just
you
know,
kind
of
mixed
aggregate
that
doesn't
have
anything
else.
Just
you.
B
C
C
A
Could
maybe,
if
you
could
intercept
water
flowing
off
your
roof,
somehow
into
that
and
make
sure
that
yeah
all
right
and
then
then
great
you're?
Probably
right,
you
probably
don't
have
a
lot
of
runoff,
but
it's
good
to
like
investigate
a
little
bit
just
kind
of
take
a
look,
because
if
you
do
have
that
really
sandy
soil,
you
have
a
lot
of
potential
to
infiltrate.
If
there
is
ways
that
you
could
pull
impervious
surfaces
into
it,
then
you'd
be
doing
it.
A
A
But
it's
often
the
case
with
somebody
who
has
really
sandy
soil
that
they
don't
have
a
whole
lot
of
runoff,
particularly
if
their
driveway
is
kind
of
you
know
draining
toward
their
their
grass
and
there
it's
in
its
going
or
flowing
across
sheep
flowing
across
their
grass
a
lot
of
times.
Driveways
are
graded
so
that
they
flow
off
your
property,
though
right
direct
and
a
lot
of
times.
Downspouts
and
rubs
are
you
know,
drain
directly
to
driveways
and
things.
A
Maybe
but
we'll
talk
about
rain
barrels
in
a
little
bit
because
remember,
there's
only
50,
gallons
and
you're
Rufus.
Thousands.
So
just
talk
about
that
good,
there's,
rusty,
leveling
off
the
rain
garden
and
you'll
notice
that
the
rain
garden
is
mulched
first
and
then
planted
the
mulch
helps
protect
the
work
that
you've
done,
loosening
your
soil.
It's
also
a
heck
of
a
lot
easier
to
stick.
The
plants
in
with
the
mulch
already
down
than
it
is
to
plant
then
put
them
around
the
plants.
It's
always
mulch.
A
First,
the
biggest
thing
is
it
kind
of
helps
protect
when
you're
planting
any
pressure
that
you
put
on
the
ground.
It
actually
absorbs
some
of
that
and
keeps
the
soil
looser
and
then
water
and
smile.
That's
the
most
important
piece
is
the
smiling
part
good.
We've
had
great
questions
anymore,
I
mean
this.
Is
it
that's
it?
It's
not
rocket
science
I.
B
A
Know
you
have
to
look
into
it
I'm,
mostly
in
Minneapolis
and
I,
know
that
we
don't
have
a
whole
heck
of
a
lot,
but
yes,
good,
good,
yeah
I.
The
thing
that
we'll
talk
about
in
a
little
bit
too
is
well.
Let's
see
how
we
go.
Look
we'll
talk
about
this.
First,
here's
some
ideas
about
like
how
you
can
convey
water.
Remember
that
image
I
showed
you
of
you
know
connecting
your
downspout
in
these
are
the
different
components
that
make
that
up
and
they're
very
easy
to
put
in
and
they're
readily
available.
A
If
you
like
this
kind
of
thing,
you
certainly
don't
have
to
go
through
the
trouble
of
doing
it.
Sometimes
you
know
if
you're
digging,
if
you're
putting
a
pipe
in
like
this.
Sometimes
this
elevate,
you
have
to
remember
that
water
is
going
to
start
here.
This
is
the
high
point,
then,
of
your
of
your
rain
garden.
That's
what's
that's
the
elevation,
so
you
know
this
is
your
high
point.
This
point
down
here
has
to
be
substantially
lower,
so
they
actually
have
some
volume
that
you
can
put
in
there.
A
So
just
be
aware
of
that,
some
people
love
these
things.
Some
people
use
them,
and
some
people
have
the
grade
change
in
their
property
to
deal
with
it,
and
so
that
we
just
like
to
show
you
that
there
are
ways
to
do
it.
You
can
get
these
all
over
the
place.
All
of
the
stores
have
them
and
nursery
places
have
them.
Yes,.
B
C
C
A
He's
saying
an
IND
rain,
tighly
running
the
risk
of
freezing
inside
the
drain
tile
and
absolutely
true.
So
what
you
do
is
you
disconnect
this
in
the
wintertime
in
the
fall?
You
disconnect
any
flow
going
into
it.
That's
I
mean
that's
absolutely
crucial
when
you
have
a
system
like
this,
you
just
you
got
to
take
your
downspout
that
you've
got
this
connection
that
you've
made
here
and
you
just
disconnect
it
for
the
period
of
time,
particularly
when
it
you
have
risk
freezing
but
yeah.
A
C
A
You
know
when
we,
when
we
install
these
for
people,
we
tell
them
to
disconnect
them.
We
have
a
way
that
they
can
pop
the
the
connection
off,
put
on
a
regular
elbow
and
just
move
the
water
across
that
way,
I
mean
it's
even
freezing
at
the
top
and
freezing
them
throughout
the
whole
system,
but
you
want
to
try.
You
can
keep
that
out
and
then
you
can
close
that
off.
If
you
need
to
you
know,
that's
what
I
would
do
if
I
would
use
one
of
those.
A
Sometimes
people
put
them
underneath
sidewalks,
you
got
a
site,
you
got
a
down
spot
over
here
and
you
want
to
get
routed
over
to
the
rain
garden
and
make
it
make
that
connection.
You
can
use
a
hose
and
it
kind
of
in
a
pipe,
and
you
stick
that
pipe
in
there
and
then
you
run
the
holes
in
it
loosen
some
of
it.
You
pull
it
out,
put
it
in
there
again
run
the
hose.
It's
pretty
easy
process.
If
you
wanted
to
ever
do
that,
you
could
call
me
and
I'd
help.
A
You
figure
out
how
to
do
it,
but
it
is
possible
and
it
works
really
slick
if
you
want
to
get
underneath
a
sidewalk.
This
is
probably
one
of
my
all-time
favorite.
Things
is
a
channel
drain
like
this,
that
disconnects
driveways
and
any
chance
that
I
would
have
to
install
one
of
these
I
would
if
I
had
a.
If
there
was
somebody
who
came
to
me
and
said
I
didn't
want
to
put
a
rain
garden
somewhere
where
kind.
This
is
what
I
would
do,
because
it
basically
is
going
to
anything.
A
That's
coming
off
of
this
driveway
impervious
surface
you're
gonna
be
able
to
collect
all
of
it.
You
can
take
that
grate
off.
You
can
clean
that
out.
It's
basically
like
this
beautiful
way
of
pre
treating
the
water
before
it
hits
your
garden.
So
you
don't
have
a
bunch
of
crap
in
your
garden.
Sorry,
and
you
can
clean
all
that
out
of
there
every
year.
If
you
need
to
really
easy
with
a
vacuum
or
just
the
shovel
or,
however,
you
do
it,
but
you're,
basically
ensuring
that
all
the
water
from
your
driveway
is
heading.
A
Other
people
have
other
types
of
solutions:
dry,
creek
beds
are
kind
of
fun
people
really
like
them.
You
can
do
cool
things
with
storm
water,
where
basically
you're
you're,
showing
this
kind
of
you
know
temporal
stream
when
it
rains
real
heavy
you've
got
this
kind
of
you
know
stream
moving
through
your
yard
in
the
rain.
Of
course,
it
dries
up
and
stuff,
but
it's
a
good
way
to
convey
water
to
a
rain
garden.
You've
got
one
over
there.
Sometimes
you
know
I've
seen
these
a
lot
where
you
have.
A
You
know
a
larger
planting
that
you
still
want
to
have
access
through
and
around
you
can
you
know:
do
these
cool
little
bridges
ones,
there's
another
one
I'll
show
you
later
in
our
project
profiles:
double
shredded
hardwood,
mulch,
Saluki
to
picking
mulch
the
free
wood
chips
that
you
get
from
the
city
they
will
float
and
they
will
wash
away
double
shredded
binds
together,
creates
a
nice
thick
mat
and
it
hold.
It
prevents
weeds
much
better,
but,
most
importantly,
it
doesn't
float
away,
and
so
you
don't
have
to
keep
putting
more
on.
A
But
when
you
build
your
rain
garden,
when
you
build
your
hangar
and
when
you
build
you,
when
you
all
build
your
rain
gardens,
make
sure
you
expect
the
double
shredded
and
find
a
place
that
has
it
there's
it's
becoming
more
and
more
common
compost
plants,
small
plants
way
better.
You
spend
a
lot
less
money
on
them.
They're
a
lot
easier
to
work
with
they're,
probably
only
a
year
old
they've
never
spent
a
winter
over
in
the
pot.
A
The
more
demand
there
is,
the
better.
There
are
companies.
One
company
that
I
will
tell
you
about
is
Glacial
Ridge
nursery.
They
sell
four
inch
pots
at
farmer's
markets
throughout
the
Twin
Cities
area.
They
make
the
best
plants
that
you
can
possibly
imagine
they
do
a
common,
mostly
natives.
They
also
do
some
cultivars
of
natives
as
well,
so
they're
a
great
place
to
look
for
farmers,
market
Glacial,
Ridge
nursery
and
there
they
have
a
couple
places
outside
of
the
metro
area.
A
Another
thing
I'll
plug
real
quick
is
our
bloomsday
plant
sale,
page
9.
We
sell
a
lot
of
plants
at
our
Bloomsday
plant
sale,
it's
coming
up
in
May
May
3rd
and
we
get
a
lot
of
stuff
from
Glacial
Ridge,
a
lot
of
stuff
from
dragonfly
nurseries
and
we
sell
it
like
better
than
you
could
ever
find
it
price,
but
we
still
make
a
little
bit
of
money
on
it.
So
it's
a
great
deal
good.
A
Alright,
any
questions
on
design
on
the
install
process
or
any
of
that
we've
got
about
5
minutes
that
we've
run
over
so
far,
so
yeah
I
will.
Basically.
This
is
why
we
choose
natives,
there's
turf
grass,
here's
native
grass
and
what
I
want
to
kind
of
show.
You
is
these
images
here
about
moisture
conditions
that
there's
these
zones
within
a
rain
garden
that
we
design
for
and
if
you
have
any
questions
about
plant
choices,
please
look
up
blue
thumb.
Org
they've
got
a
great
plant
finder.
A
They
will
help
you
every
step
of
the
way
in
there
to
kind
of
design.
Your
plant
palette
for
your
various
different
zones.
You
have
a
very
dry
zone,
whoops,
sorry
dry
zone
at
the
top.
It
gets
a
little
bit
more
moist
here
and,
of
course,
it's
very
wet.
Here's
some
examples
of
designs
that
we
put
together
for
people.
If
you
are
interested,
we
will
come
to
your
pretty
and
we
will
give
you
a
$75
consultation
it'll
either
be
myself
or
one
of
my
two
buddies
or
three
buddies
at
that
consultation.
A
We
go
through
your
entire
yard
and
we
will
kind
of
give
you
some
help,
pointers
about
locating
rain
gardens.
We
will
also
give
you
any
advice
about
plant
material,
any
advice
about
conveyance
any
of
the
stuff
that
you've
learned
here.
So
if
you
are
interested
in
that
I
will
I
can
give
you
a
card,
and
you
can
also
go
on
our
website.
Wwlp.Com.