Wondering if it’s worth building a rain garden on your property? You’ve come to the right place! As a landscaping contractor in West Michigan, you can count on our expertise to transform your basic lawn into the perfect backyard oasis. A rain garden not only absorbs runoff but holds numerous benefits for the environment and your life.
Here are the top 5 benefits of designing and building a rain garden for your property.
1. Protect Our Lakes and Rivers
The soil beneath our feet is a powerful natural filter. It absorbs rainfall and filters it before it reaches the water table below. However, this natural system can get bypassed when rainwater falls on non-porous materials such as roofs and paved roads.
As water flows over man-made surfaces, it picks up oil, pesticides, fertilizer, bacteria, dirt, and other pollutants. From there, it makes its way into our sewers and natural bodies of water.
Water runoff threatens the health of our local lakes and rivers. For this reason, many homeowners build rain gardens to help slow down, capture, and absorb runoff. Each rain garden makes a difference in the collective effort to keep our water clean. Are you ready to do your part?
2. Reduce Erosion and Soil Loss
Turf grass roots are shallow, which means they aren’t able to absorb rain as quickly or effectively as native wetland plants. It’s for this reason that water often flows across lawns before entering the nearest lake, river, or sewer system. If enough water flows across a lawn, it can erode the soil over time.
One of the is that they help absorb runoff and reduce erosion on your property. It’s a win-win!
3. Enjoy a Dry Basement
Do you currently use a sump pump to keep your basement dry? If you’re concerned about water damage, consider building a rain garden to protect your home from rain and snowmelt. To design and build a rain garden, you’ll need a minimum slope of 1 inch in 4-1/2 feet (2 percent). That way, water flows away from your home and into the rain garden. If you don’t have this slope already, we recommend that you take advantage of our landscaping services.
4. Add Beauty to Your Life
There’s no shortage of plants you can use for your rain garden. Many of these options are also native to our area, which help you create a biodiverse landscape design. Good candidates for your rain garden include aster, daylily, iris, sedum, coneflower, astilbe, artemisia, and sedge. All of these plants add color, texture, and visual interest to your garden. We also offer rain garden design services if you’re looking for more inspiration.
Related: 5 Benefits of Using Native Plants in Landscaping →
5. Reduce the Mosquito Population
Do you have standing water on your property? If so, you have a higher risk of mosquitos laying their eggs in stagnant pools of water. Since mosquitos carry disease, it’s vital to eliminate any areas from your property where water collects.
It only takes five days for mosquito eggs to hatch and become fully-grown biting adults. The good news is that are designed to absorb runoff so water doesn’t stand for longer than 24 hours.
Request a Free In-Home Consultation
Ready to take the next step? R&A Landscaping is proud to serve homeowners throughout West and Southwest Michigan. Call us today to book a free in-home consultation with our landscapers in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, MI. You may also fill out our online contact form and someone from our team will reach out to you soon.