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Rain gardens designed for watershed protection are a popular gardening concept in communities across the country.
With careful planning and design, homeowners can create a rain garden that is aesthetically pleasing and functional. Examples of plants to use in Southwest Florida rain gardens are: giant leather fern, blue flag iris, rain lilies, elderberry, wax myrtle, Fakahatchee grass, buttonbush, yellow canna and cinnamon fern.
The creation of a rain garden can enhance a landscape and help protect waterways from stormwater contaminants. A rain garden is a swale or depression in a yard that is positioned to collect and absorb hardscape and groundwater runoff before it can enter storm drains, ponds, streams and lakes. Rain gardens are planted with native grasses and plants that can tolerate periodic standing water.
As the water collected in a rain garden seeps slowly into the ground, the plants and soil within the rain garden use physical and biological processes to remove and filter potential contaminants.
Rain gardens can be an attractive landscape feature and are easily incorporated into a typical landscape. In residential settings, rain gardens should be located in an area easily accessed by rainwater diverted from gutter downspouts.
Native perennials, shrubs, grasses and trees that can survive standing water are recommended for rain gardens because they generally do not require fertilizer and can sustain periods of drought and rain.
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