Q & A Florida Rain Garden Guide To Get You Started With Confidence

Darren Driscoll • Apr 18, 2013

rain-garden-guideRecently we talked about how to create a rain garden with the help of your home’s gutters. However, some of our readers have come forward with some questions about rain gardens.

In response, we decided to take some of those questions and create a rain garden guide for those thinking about adding one to their landscape this year.

Will I Get A Huge Puddle if I Make a Rain Garden?

Nope! You don’t have to worry about ponds, puddles, or ugly pools of standing water forming up in your back yard.

You won’t attract unwanted critters with your rain garden, either, not even mosquitoes. You can have a permanent pond if you want to, but you’d have to specifically design your rain garden that way to get it.

This is simply because the plants in your rain garden will drink up the water as it enters the garden. The action of the plants is also the reason why the water stays out of the storm drains.

At most, you should see water on the ground for a few hours after a storm, and no longer.

Can I Grow Edible Plants in my Rain Garden?

Some people do grow edible plants in their rain gardens. Blueberries have been known to do reasonably well in these types of gardens, for example.

Much depends on the design of the rain garden itself. Some designs are more conducive to edible plants than others.

Are Rain Gardens High Maintenance?

Rain gardens may still need some watering if there isn’t much rain for awhile. Like any garden it will also need to be weeded from time to time.

However, they are no more high-maintenance than any other kind of garden. When the rains are good (and they usually are here in Florida) they may be considerably easier to maintain than most other types of gardens.

What’s the Ideal Size for a Rain Garden?

University of Florida recommends gardens of 100 to 300 square feet that are at least 4 to 8 inches deep.

Rain gardens smaller than 100 square feet will not allow for a wide diversity of plants. On the other hand, a rain garden larger than 300 square feet will take a considerable amount of time and money to construct…

Because of the prevalence of sandy soils in Central Florida a typical rain garden is between four and eight inches deep. If deeper than eight inches a rain garden might hold water for too long and provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Additionally, it may create a tripping hazard. A rain garden much less than four inches deep will need an excessive amount of surface area to provide enough water storage to infiltrate the larger storms typical of Florida’s rainy season.

We hope these answers help you with your rain garden!

Rain Control Gutters is a trusted gutter contractor serving St. Petersburg, Largo, Clearwater and the rest of the Tampa Bay metro area. Call us for a free estimate on new seamless aluminum gutters, gutter guards, gutter cleaning, and gutter repair.

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