We created a new rain garden!

On June 29th, we handcrafted a small rain garden measuring 2㎡ (2m x 1m) and 20cm deep at a private home.

A rain garden is a device that stores and infiltrates rainwater that falls on a roof. Rain that falls on a roof usually flows down gutters into sewer pipes and then into rivers. By allowing the water to infiltrate in a rain garden, it is possible to prevent the water from flowing into the river all at once.

Here is a photo of the garden before the rain garden was built.

And here it is after the rain garden was dug.

The white stones are placed where the water channels are to carry water from the gutters into the rain garden.

In addition, leaf mold is mixed into the bottom of the rain garden to make it fluffy. This is done to maintain the soil's permeability and to allow for the plants to be planted later.

The rain garden I created this time was created in the following steps:

1. Purchase of compost and stones

2. Redirect the rain gutter that was facing the drain to face the waterway in the rain garden.

3. Waterway construction

4. Digging a rain garden with a hoe or shovel

5. Improve the soil by adding leaf compost

It took about 3 hours to complete steps 1 to 5. However, it took about 1 hour to shop, so the actual work (steps 2 to 5) took about 2 hours. The compost and stones cost about 6,000 yen at the home improvement store.

This rain garden was designed to infiltrate and store approximately 40% of the water coming in from the roof (approximately 17m²). I'm excited to see how much water it will actually absorb.