The thing about rain is…
The thing about rain is that it never rains right. When we need a good soaking we get squalls, more wind than wet and not enough water to soak through the mulch. When we’ve already had more than enough rain then we get even more, several inches more over several days. Rarely, if ever at all, does the perfect amount of rain fall slow and steady (between the hours of midnight and 5 AM) striking a perfect balance so that it falls from the sky as fast as it it seeps into the soil, thus avoiding runoff, erosion, and puddling.
When we need rain and it does come, it comes on the weekend when we would prefer the sun. Though we are happy to have rain when our flower beds are limp and our trees dusty, rain rarely satisfies in real life, especially when it spoils a picnic or a planned day at the beach.
Though one of my favorite things to do on a rainy afternoon is to sit at home and read a good book, watch a movie, or just hang out playing video games with my 3rd grader, landscape designers and gardeners must see rain differently. A rainy day, when it arrives within 24 hours of completing an installation, makes us thank our lucky stars because we know the rain will water in all the new plants to perfection. Conversely, rain can curse us when it interferes with our plans to move a big tree or prepare a large planting bed. Over time, however, I have learned what a good spring storm can tell me by revealing the way water collects or runs throughout a property.
First and foremost, a day of steady rain will show you the low spots in a landscape. These wet spots where water collects signal a need for better drainage—perhaps a new French drain or an improvement in soil structure—or it can suggest an opportunity to grow riparian shrubs like pussy willow and tatarian dogwood, or wetland trees such as taxodium or tupelo. Even better, you might choose to take advantage of the low spot and maybe go so far as to direct even more water towards it to create a rain garden.
Rain gardens work with nature and as such they are most often made by those who have learned not to fight against the elements. A rain garden is nothing more than a spot in your yard where water collects so it stays wet. Water-loving plants like places like that, plants like the aforementioned trees and shrubs as well as many wet-footed perennials, among them cardinal flower and flag iris.
Our most recent spring storm pointed out the perfect spot in my yard to try a rain garden. What did this recent rainstorm tell you about your property? Is there a rain garden, a drain improvement project, or some soil building work in your weekend forecast.
By Daryl Beyers