RainGardenBlog

Surviving the long hot summer

2011-10-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

As Iook back at my last post, I hadn't realized what a long uneventful summer it has been. The days were pretty much the same: mid 90"s, slight breeze, thunderstorms all around us. We lost several shrubs this summer because we couldn't get enough water into them. We added another rain barrel and now we're up to six. Despite rainfall amounts recorded at the airport, several miles away, their 3 inch accumulation would only amount to 1/2" here. What a difference a few miles makes.

In any event, I just took this picture of the rain garden. It has received no weedings as it should have (too hot and too buggy). As you can see, there are some tough plants that just weather whatever Mother Nature throws at them and then provide a beautiful showing anyway.

Rain Gardens Can Be Beautiful

2011-05-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of a corner of our rain garden recently. I often have walkers from the park across the street come over and tell me what a beautiful flower garden I have. I of course then tell them that this is a rain garden and begin to explain what it does. It's a hard working little garden! Your rain garden can be planted with native plants and made to more match a wildscape but that doesn't suit every house in every neighborhood. I wanted mine to have flowers, color and have a variety of leaf textures to contrast and add interest throughout the growing period.

Is it more work to create and maintain a 'pretty' rain garden? Sometimes the answer is yes. This winter was brutal in our area and some of the ground covering plants died out, not to return. Mother Nature of course took care of that for me and germinated all the dormant weed seeds in that area. I spent a couple extra hours pulling the weeds and adding 'John Creech' Sedum spurium. I hope that they are happy and spread to fill the bare spots. Another sedum I planted two summers ago, Sedum 'Angelina' is still hanging in there but barely. By now, if conditions were right for it, I should have a large area, at least two square feet covered by this variety. Instead I have just a scant few patches. Gardens are always a work-in-progress.

We all live downstream from somebody

2011-03-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

I attended a discussion last night called "A History of Durham's Watersheds: From Sewers to Green Spaces". The moderator, Robert Healy, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Policy at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University brought local historians and naturalists to talk about Durham's local watersheds and some of the problems Durham faces.

It is interesting to note that whatever we do with our land has an effect on our water. Because of a high ridge in Durham, we have water flowing into both the Neuse River Basin and the Cape Fear River Basin that eventually enter the Atlantic Ocean via Pamilco Sound or at Wilmington. On it's journey, the water makes stops in both Falls Lake and Jordan Lake, both manmade bodies of water. Jordan Lake was originally created in the 60's for flood control. Since then the uses have increased to include a source of drinking water, recreation and providing wildlife habitat. Falls Lake is Raleighs source for drinking water.

Unfortunately what folks are doing with their land uphill from those lakes is creating water quality problems. Those problems translate to large expenditures of money to clean up the creeks that run into the rivers that pour into the lakes.

My question has always been how do we devide the responsibility of who collects, contains, reuses and releases the water and what percentage of the problem is caused by neighborhoods and farms. Got part of that answer last night. 70% of the water quality problems come from farms and neighborhoods.

So what are we doing that is causing these problems? Land use ordinances can help solve the problem or if not thought out thorougly, can make the problem worse. No two cities have the same ordinances in regard to land use and management of storm water. Should we expect our cities, counties and states to solve all the problems by imposing restrictions on what we do? This approach adds layers of beaurocracy and that increases costs. Fertilizers and chemicals from manufacturing along with the waste products created from our transportation methods add to the problem. Don't forget the sewage spills caused by improper disposal of grease and materials that don't break down clogging the sewer lines.

So what can we, as individuals do to help solve the problems and how much of a difference can we make? Surprisingly we can do a great deal of good by putting rain gardens on our property. Take some of that green lawn we pour chemicals on to maintain and turn it into a garden that allows us to keep the rain water flowing from our roofs, sidewalks and driveways. Let that rain garden serve as a filter as the rain water slowly soaks through its layers before reaching the water table. Whether your soil is clay, sand, loam or some mixture of the three, you can design a rain garden to help retain more water from a storm event. It takes a load off the storm water management people who must constantly increase the size and capacity of their systems to handle the increased development in your area.

We would act if we had the knowledge to understand why it was so important. Here is a smidgen of that knowledge. Fix it yourself or pay someone else to fix it for you but watch out for the price tag. Government fixes are mighty expensive.

A Really Big Rain Garden

2011-03-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Baker Exhibit Center at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville is a LEEDS certified building incorporating many green practices to limit the need for electricity, heating, cooling, and use of water among other special features. It is a center for education, research, conservation, economic development and gardening demonstrations. There are activities and interesting sights for all ages. Because of the large impervious surface footprint it creates, the rain garden below is needed to help capture, absorb and control the quantities of rain water it displaces.

This is the rain garden at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. It is a facility of the University of North Carolina. Although difficult to tell from this picture, the rain garden is at least 3,600 square feet. It drains the impervious surface of the large exhibit center as well as paving and sidewalk areas. The groups of plants you see are measured in dozens of grasses, dozens of shrubs. It is the finest rain garden I have yet to see.

In the lingo of architects and engineers, this would be called a BMP. For us normal gardeners, let me translate: that stands for 'Best Management Practices'. In the past we have often seen depressions in the ground filled with large gray rock and maybe containing cat tails and willow. These were the beginnings of controlling rain water run off. They were utilitarian but far from attractive. Thankfully, we have come a long way in the design of visually appealing 'BMP's'.

The Spring Clean Up

2011-03-05T06:23:00.001-08:00

I spent a couple hours last week cleaning up the rain garden. Although still attractive in their paper dry form, the grasses needed to be cut back since new green shoots were already emerging. The Siberian Iris had also started to push up new shoots with 2 inches already above ground level. Tiny groups of leaves were out on the Aquilegia canadensis (Wild Columbine) so the fine dry stems from last year needed to go. The Tradescantia (Spiderwort) is growing faster than anything else and is already 4 inches tall. That and removing leaves that had blown in during the winter pretty much took care of the spring clean up.

I'll be monitoring the garden more often now that we have had a couple of 70 degree days as dormant plants will come back to life quickly.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, we are still lacking in rain fall.. The local weatherman says we are currently 4 inches below the average for this year. Thunderstorms are forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning and then again later next week so there is hope for some catching up.

Oh, and Michael is building some ingenious stands for the rain barrels from scrap lumber left over from building the puppy fenced in area. They elevate the barrels about 16 to 18 inches and help get a better flow for watering taller planters. They also eliminate the problem of having the hose kink at ground level when the barrel is too close to the ground and the faucet is a mere 3 inches from the bottom of the barrel.

Did I mention that the chrysanthemum I tucked into the rain garden last fall has produced a great many new shoots? Mums hate having their feet wet and the soil mix drains quickly so they seem quite happy. Think I'll add a few more this year for a nice colorful addition for late summer when everything else has bloomed out.

I had intended to include pictures of the before and after clean-up but during the process of downloading the images I received error code 503, whatever that means. I am a far better gardener than a computer person. It's time to call my friend Greg at Great Services to come find out why my computer is missbehaving. He can always fix my problems and demistify what occurred.

Cold and Quiet in the Rain Garden

2011-01-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much going on in the rain garden these last few months. It's been our coldest winter on record with 6 snow events to date. We seldom have even one. The rain garden continues to function regardless of the kind of precipitation that falls. I used night lighting under the dried grasses this year and created a luminous focal point for those traveling past our property. Again, I am eager for spring to see if all my plants have survived the colder than normal temperatures we have endured through December and now also in January.

I attended a Sustainable Landscape' class yesterday. I've attended the class in prior years but there is always new material. This year's presentation on rain gardens was more informative and it was interesting to hear the questions and comments made by class participants. This concept of a 'rain garden' is still not fully understood by many be they seasoned gardeners or those just tentatively practicing new gardening skills. One comment by our instructor was very important to me and that was: municipalities have learned their lesson in the way in which they should handle storm water. The old concept of move it as quickly as possible and as far away as possible has been replaced. Today we realize that allowing the rain to slowly soak into our soils has benefits both environmentally and financially to name two of the most important challenges we are grappling with.

We are finally getting serious about alternative ways to manage storm water. The Falls Lake situation, with Raleigh pointing fingers at us as the main cause of their water quality problems, is creating more of a sense of urgency for individual citizens to do their part. We can make a difference although we are only a small portion of the whole problem. But we have started to solve the problem.

What has my rain garden done for me lately?

2010-09-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

So today is September 1st. It's almost always dry at this time of year. This year though, we've had the hottest summer on record in Durham, North Carolina. And it's been breezy. There were days when I felt that I was walking around in a convection oven. Our gardens have suffered. Even the rain garden is showing signs of stress with groundcovers displaying burnt edges on their leaves.
Thank God for the grasses. Nothing ever seems to phase them and now they are topped with beautiful plumes that sway in the hot breeze.

I did a little weeding this weekend. I didn't think I'd get very far with the ground being baked to a brick-like consistency. And in parts of the yard, this was true but the beds on the slope just below the rain garden had moist soil. I shoved a long narrow spade in to clean up the edge of the bed and pull back the runner grass and it slid in easily. The soil was still moist to a depth of at least eight inches. This surprised me since we've only had a smattering of brief rain over the last two weeks that punctuated the oven-like days. My only conclusion is that a large area around the rain garden soaked up the water that sits for a day or two after a storm event just like a sponge. Moving uphill from that very same rain garden and the soil is dry and hard as would be expected for the weather patterns we've had.

So now, I'm trying to decide how to incorporate a rain garden over by the apple and cherry trees and the blueberry bushes. We'll collect the run-off from the north side of the garage roof and channel it there. We won't get near the volume of water because the square footage is so small but even 4 or 500 gallons would make a difference to the fruiting trees and bushes.

September here in North Carolina is also a very high-risk time for the after effects of coastal hurricanes. Earl is now moving toward our coast but the weatherman says no rain for us from this storm. Fiona is following right behind him but it looks like she too is going to stay far out to sea and not even an outer band of moisture will reach us.

Of course I'm not wishing for destruction at the coast to get us a little much needed rain but as they say 'If wished were horses then beggars would ride on gleaming white stallions with bright fiery eyes'. So,,,, I wish for a weather system that settles peacefully over the upper piedmont where we live and slowly drops a few inches of much needed moisture over a few cool days. Yes, wishes.

Is this a rain garden post?

2010-07-13T16:36:00.001-07:00

Hooker Falls is a sensory overload as the sound of the crashing water, the mist touching your face and the cool water between your toes speaks of the power of water.

Finally got a chance to get away for a few days. This escape was courtesy of North Carolina Touring, a company that plans motorcycle trips for busy people. We spent three days traveling to and through the mountains of North Carolina, stopping to view and photograph beautiful water falls.

The trip started in Durham and after the necessary miles on I85 and I40, we began to travel two-lane black top through small mountain towns. My favorite was when we wound our way through lush river bottom land. As the black top narrowed, the scenery became quainter. We meandered past corn fields, tree farms, bee keepers and tiny cottages whose gardens dwarfed the homes the gardeners lived in.

There is something very special about viewing the land from the back of a motorcycle. The sound of air rushing past your helmet is mesmerizing. The smells are amazing. Fresh cut fields of hay, dips and curves that took you into deep forested places smelling of fern and moss and then the smell of water as you approached a bridge spanning a section of lake.

Three days on a bike and finally, I was grateful to pull into our driveway. The lawn cried out for a haircut neglected on the weekend but thankfully, the rain garden had taken care of itself.

Festival on the Eno - Observations

2010-07-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

I spent several hours working the information booth for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association at Durham's annual Festival on the Eno this 4th of July weekend.

It was gratifying to see the number of groups represented there that are actively involved in keeping our planet healthy.

Two things became very clear. Those that are involved in these organizations are well-informed and passionate about protecting our forests, wetlands, animals and waterways and especially those lands that help keep the balance between people living on and off the land and sustaining that land for future generations. The second thing was that large numbers of our population have only a vague idea of why this is important.

With all the publicity that the Falls Lake water quality issue has generated recently in our area, I would have thought that more people would have an understanding of the relationship between their drinking water and land use. Sadly that is not so.

Everyone of us that uses water lives in a watershed. Do you know which watershed you live in? Do you know how your actions affect your watershed?

Hostas in the June Rain Garden

2010-06-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

In a drier part of our rain garden, the Patriot Hosta is flourishing. Although all hosta will not tolerate this lack of moisture, Patriot is quite forgiving and continues to multiply each year.

This Sum & Substance Hosta is planted near the overflow pipe from the rain barrels. Condensation from the AC unit also flows into the rain garden at this location. The fern directly below it's leaves also benefits from the added moisture.

Durham is currently 4 inches below normal in rainfall amounts for the year. Looking at the lush foliage in the rain garden above, it's obvious that this deficit hasn't been felt by any of these plants.
A careful selection of plant materials will assure an interesting and lush garden throughout the spring, summer and fall season.

A 50 Pound Lily

2010-05-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

For those that remember my 'She's here' post, here's an update on the 8 1/2 pound pup we brought home last July. Darling Lily is growing up. A brief visit to the vet today and they weighed our now not-so-little girl in at 50 pounds.

Fragile she's not and has been given the nickname 'Cinderblock'.

And of course she rules the household even though we tell ourselves that WE are the leader of the pack.

Right.

Blooming Now In The Rain Garden

2010-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

The end of April and beginning of May are my favorite time in the rain garden. All the groundcovers have popped back up and covered the bare spots. The grasses are tall, beautiful and sway with the slightest breeze.

And then there is the color. Dainty orchid-like Siberian Iris is in full bloom and the shade of Ceasar's Brother can only be described as deep royal purple. Close by, the wild indigo (Baptisia) blooms in a pure blue and below it, the spiderwort is covered in deep lavender star-shaped blooms jutting from short stems at the base of each leaf. This grouping has great color and texture and fills about 1/5 of the entire perennial space. And the backdrop for the sprinkling of lavenders, purples and blues is an old unidentified azalea with hose-in-hose blooms of a deep rich pink. It's really a wow moment.

I've managed to keep pulled the few weeds that popped up through the spring. The next chore will be to cut the stems of the wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) when they've dried and find a friend to give them to for their gardens.

The 'Sum & Substance' hosta I moved to the garden last fall likes its new spot by the overflow pipe from the rainbarrels. The ribbed leaves have grown to 12 inches across this year and new shoots have emerged. Next year this hosta will be a real eye catcher because of its size and chartreuse color. A Tassel fern is now hidden underneath it's canopy and will have to be moved this fall.

Surprisingly, the above scenario has played out with below normal rainfall over a 4 week period. This speaks to choosing plants with the versatility of taking it wet or tolerating it dry. Plant selection is key to a beautiful rain garden.

More plants survived the winter

2010-04-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

It's been exciting to check the rain garden each week to see if any new shoots have emerged. My big concern over the Hibiscus coccineus is now laid to rest. Both clumps have new green shoots emerging around the old stems from last year.

I planted some Maidens grass by the overflow pipe from the rain barrels, just to see if it would survive in soggy soil as an experiment and it too has new green shoots coming up.

The wild columbine went from little bunches of leaves 6 inches high to full bloom with those lovely red bell-shaped blooms dangling from 24 inch stems in just a week. The fact that we had temps in the high 80's had a lot to do with that. The progression from leaves to full bloom usually takes 3 or 4 weeks but this has been an unusual spring with temperatures that matched the record books recorded highs.

The spiderwort is also beginning to bloom with those vivid purple star-shaped flowers atop the stems and the blue indigo that refused to poke its head up has now reached a height of 18 inches in just this last 2 weeks.

We have a new challenge it seems for the rain garden. We have had less that 1/8 inch of rain in the last 2 weeks and none is predicted for at least another week. So many things are popping up and really need that moisture to continue to grow and form healthy plants. I guess we'll now be testing the drought hardiness of some of the more delicate plants.

I'll be posting pictures of the rain garden soon, so check back to see what kind of color and texture is happening now.

Cold Winters & Plant Hardiness

2010-03-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

The Herald Sun's recent article about the winter of 2009/2010 confirmed my suspicions. This was one of the coldest winters on record, in fact the 6th coldest winter in the Durham area since records were kept back in the 40's. In addition to the cold we received around 7 inches of snow when our average is slightly over 2 inches. This winter there were days on end when the rain garden was nothing but a water filled bog. This is a large deviation from the years since it's planting when we have had below normal rainfall and water passed through and filtered down in less than 3 hours. All the plants did extremely well under the drier conditions.

My inspection yesterday showed that the grasses are sending up new shoots, as are the Aquilegia, Sedum and Siberian Iris. A few more warm days and I'll check again.

Brave Little Shoots

2010-03-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe but as I inspected the rain garden today, there poking through the dried brown foliage were tiny green leaves on the sedums, the iris and the spiderwort.

This winter is a real test for our rain garden. As I have indicated in my book, The Rain Garden Handbook, certain plants will tolerate 'wet feet'. How wet for how long is the important question. So as we finally move into the spring season, I'll begin to list those plants that have made it through the wettest winter I can ever remember in the Carolinas. I think there will be some surprises as plants I have listed as preferring drier soil conditions seem to have survived the constant state of muck we've just had.

But first, the weatherman cautiously predicts another winter weather event for our area for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. How many pictures can one take of a snow covered rain garden? I hope that I am done for this year.

snowcovered Rain Garden

2010-02-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

A Long Soggy Winter

2010-02-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

There has been very little opportunity to garden these past few months. In fact, we've been so consistently wet that the ponds still haven't been completely cleaned out from the falling leaves. Even if walking on wet ground wasn't a big no no, I would still refuse to garden with umbrella in hand. Call me a fair weather gardener.

The moisture deficit in our area is a thing of the past. I was curious to see what would happen when the ground became saturated and our berms held all moisture that fell to our property. The answer is that we have a couple leaks in the basement. One two day period in November produced 4 1/2" of rain. This is when I discovered not only the existing leak that has always been there by the chimney but also a new leak coming in from where we added the basement door. I think this one may be related to the fact that the water has no where to go except downhill and that means down our basement steps and into the well under the bottom step that houses a sump pump. Perhaps this spring we'll add some overflow channels that can be opened should we ever need to actually let rainwater leave the property.

The gentle little Ellerbe Creek across the street is now a raging river. The stream restoration work done by the EEP last spring has held up well through the heavy downpours. I wonder though, how many events like this one it will take before the fast moving water begins cutting deeper channels. I was thinking that if we could get just 10% of all our neighbors to put in those raingardens, the creek wouldn't be forced to carry so much run-off.

At the expense of what?

2009-10-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

I find myself in an odd situation.

As I have championed rain gardens as a tool to help save our waterways from the destructive forces of large volumes of storm water run-off and the pollution that accompanies it, I am hesitant to support the proposed buffer zone to protect a portion of Ellerbe Creek that runs through our urban park.

Going back to comments in an earlier post, there are problems in our watersheds with the run-off from so much development (read that as impervious surfaces that don't absorb rain water).

In our area, the capital of North Carolina, that being Raleigh, wants the pollution flowing into Falls Lake, their source of water for the citizenry, to stop. So they look upstream and find that the Ellerbe Creek watershed needs some changes because the creeks water has the worst quality of any creek in the state. Think of this as pollution running downhill and problems running uphill.

A massive stream renovation project was done through Northgate Park, a city owned urban park. This gives the city/county of Durham credits for having created BMP's (that's Best Management Practices for those not in the know) to help offset the problems they are having in Falls Lake.

The park itself comprises a parcel of about 18 acres. One side is a heavily sloped wooded bank filled with invasives (read poison ivy here) that is unusable for recreation. This piece constitutes at least 25% of the park proper. The new creek banks and buffer area (no mow zone) that is proposed takes up another 5.2 acres so there goes another usable part of the park amounting to about 28%. Picnic areas, safe clear spaces beside the children's play area and an informal soccer field have been swallowed up by the buffer. The neighborhood association is already hearing from parents of small children about future safety concerns.

I could live with this except for the fact that the neighborhood of Northgate Park's Adopt-A-Park group has been diligently tending to the park and creating sight lines extending through and across the park for personal safety for the last 6 years. Guidelines for the clean-ups come from CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) principles.

We, as a neighborhood, have been fighting crime for years because of the proximity of a small commercial district and property management companies that aren't really managing to keep units maintained so that they attract law abiding individuals who would love to live near the school where they work or the business that they own. Instead we battle streetwalkers, drugdealers and party houses with front yards filled with beer drinking 24/7. Right now no one can hide in the park anymore because they would be so visible. That is about to change.

This new no mow zone will be filled with new trees (1400) and shrubs (2338. The shrubsvary in height from 7 feet up to as much as 30 feet. Granted the survival rate will lower this count but still, there go our clear sight lines for safety and crime prevention.

A little research of articles on the watershed and restoration plans for the creek on my part brought me to the conclusion that stream restorations aren't taking into consideration whether they occur on a golf course, in a country setting or running through densely populated urban neighborhoods.

And of course I find a way to bring this all back to rain gardens. If developments were putting rain gardens into yards, the rain water wouldn't be leaving most properties but instead would be soaking down through the soil and entering the water table in a benign manner.

With the cost of stream renovations sometimes totalling in the millions, doesn't it make more sense to offer grants for rain gardens and really do a serious promotion so that both established homes and builders/developers would be eager to utilize this tool to reduce their storm water run-off.

You'd think so wouldn't you.

Water quality issues

2009-09-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Just read in today's News & Observer that the cities of Durham and Raleigh are arguing over who bares the cost of cleaning up Falls Lake. It's water quality is deteriorating due to nitrogen and phosphorus going into the lake. Durham does not benefit (receives no water) from the lake but some main tributaries flow through Durham County on their way to the lake.

When the state Division of Water Quality inserts additional rules later this year, the costs of the clean up will probably increase.

What does this have to do with rain gardens you might ask. Rain water that runs across all our properties eventually ends up flowing into a creek, river or lake. As the rain water flows, it picks up impurities (pollutants) such as lawn chemicals, animal wastes, agriculture chemicals and things like oil, gasoline, tire dust, etc. from our love of the automobile.

We can stop much of that run-off by putting a rain garden in our yard. Think many people doing one small thing that adds up to big benefits to our environment.

IT'S OFFICIAL

2009-09-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Our fine weatherman just announced that we are currently down by 8 inches of rain for the year. That's quite a bit if you remember that one inch of rain moistens the ground to a depth of about 3 inches. Mmmm. 8 X 3 = 24 inches or 2 feet down that moisture is lacking.

But the flip side is that there was no storm water run-off from those lacking 8 inches going into streams and rivers and reservoirs that hold our source for drinking water.

I did some recent research on water quality and storm water control because I will be teaching a rain garden seminar the 17th of October at the King's Daughters Inn in Durham, North Carolina. I like to help folks understand the reason we need those rain gardens.

Here are some facts that came up:

The Gulf of Mexico has a 9000 square mile 'dead zone' with low oxygen that kills fish and other sea life. The watersheds surrounding the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers all empty into the Gulf. The pollution is attributed to both agriculture (chemicals and animal waste) and urban sources (oil, chemicals, topsoil, trash). So if you keep your rain water and filter it down through your garden, you help reduce the pollution. You're part of the solution.

Sorry, didn't mean to make that rhyme.

The water quality along the much of the Pacific Coast (US) is a Grade B.

Solutions listed were green roofs, rain gardens, and conservation efforts such as clean-ups. We organize a group every year to clean the creek across the street from us in the park. Every year there is more trash to remove and we spend the better part of a day hauling it out of the creek and piling it up to be picked up and disposed of by the City. The beauty of that rain garden though, is that once it's in, it pretty much takes care of itself except for pulling the occasional weed.

Rain garden's appearance with high temps and no rain

2009-09-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last several weeks watching storm clouds from far off. They dumped their load far from Durham and we are now 7 inches down for the year. This picture shows you that if you choose your plants carefully, you can still have an attractive garden, even with temperatures in the 90's and no rain in weeks.

She's here!

2009-08-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

As I write this post I hear the sounds of an aluminum water bowl being bounced across the kitchen floor.

The baby has arrived.

Little Lily came home to live with us on the 26th of July and life in our household hasn't been the same since. Every day is filled with laughter at the antics of a 9-week-old pup that knows no fear. We are striving to meet the 100 puppy kisses minimum quota our friend Allyson said are required.

I am beginning to suspect that she may be too smart for her own good. The reason I hear the water bowl is because it is empty and Lily wants us to know that it is empty and she wasn't done yet.

Poor water bowl, not even a month old and already dents are appearing from crash landings. I can't wait to see what happens when she turns 10 weeks and has picked up the additional 'steam' from gaining a couple more puppy pounds.

I'll try to limit adorable pup pictures since this is a rain garden blog but had to announce that we are the parents of a bouncing baby girl.

It finally rained!

2009-08-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

July in Durham North Carolina was very dry. Week after week passed without so much as a drop of rain. Temperatures in the 90's baked everything in the plant kingdom.

Oddly enough, the one area of our yard that didn't turn brown was the grass that edged the rain garden. It would appear that the soil in this area remained moist from constant osmosis of rain water from the rain garden.

Fortunately it rained all night on Wednesday, the 5th of August, to the tune of 1 1/2 inches of rain. Our landscape plants have all perked up and the rest of the lawn area has returned to a green color, although not as lush as that patch around the rain garden.

Raingardening Lessons

2009-07-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

If you Google rain gardens, you will be informed that there are 122,000 entries on this subject. Just out of curiosity, I went to a number of the sites listed to see what kind of information was available. I am happy to say that if you are an experienced gardener with vast knowledge of gardening techniques and field experience with hundreds of plants, you can probably find the information you need to create your rain garden. If you're not, you'll find just enough information to whet your appetite but no where near enough to actually design and install your garden.

And what if you're new to gardening? What if you don't know how to choose the best tools, know nothing about creating any type of garden and even less about what is required to take it from an idea to an in-the-ground landscape feature.

Yes, I'm going to plug my Rain Garden Handbook now.

Over the many years that I've worked with clients, I've found the biggest impediment to their gardening success was lack of understanding of the basic principles of gardening, those being how to select your garden site, understand the cultural requirements of the plants you specify for your garden, purchase healthy plants and plant them properly and then know how to provide the needed support until they become established. Oh, and what do you do to maintain your garden, what is required season by season.

So my book, The Rain Garden Handbook will help you learn everything you need to know to become a first class gardener. It contains detailed information for a very good reason. No matter whether you live in Michigan, Montana, or North Carolina, there are plenty of good plant materials and soil amendments available so that you can create the best rain garden possible for your agricultural zone.

Gardens should thrive, not just survive. Let's make a rain garden together!

2009-07-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

This picture of Hibiscus cocineus blossoms was taken after three weeks of temperatures in the 90's with breezy conditions. The rain garden plants were looking a little 'fainty'. On Monday of this week, with heavy clouds seeming to almost touch the earth, we received 3/4" of rain. The next morning I was able to snap this shot. The rain garden plants miraculously perked up and remain that way on Friday morning. Careful selection of your plant materials should produce a garden that looks good spring, summer, fall and winter.