{"id":21913,"date":"2023-04-24T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21913"},"modified":"2026-01-24T14:21:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:21:50","slug":"publication-introduction-to-rain-garden-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/publication-introduction-to-rain-garden-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Publication-Introduction to Rain Garden Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rain garden is a green infrastructure project that can improve the quality of stormwater, minimize pollution, and enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitat. Purdue, Iowa State and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant researchers explain how to site, size, design, install and maintain a rain garden, and provide advice on plant selection, too.<\/p>\n

When stormwater runs off streets, driveways, roofs, and other impervious surfaces, it can move pollutants such as oil, fertilizers, heat, and chemicals to storm drains and eventually to natural bodies of water, such as lakes, streams, and rivers. These natural water sources are valuable resources for recreation, irrigation, and drinking water. Green infrastructure projects, such as rain gardens, can improve the quality of stormwater, reduce flooding, minimize pollution, enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitat, and create educational and recreational opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/div>\n

Green infrastructure includes a range of practices that allows stormwater to infiltrate into the soil or be stored for later use, thereby reducing flows to sewer systems and surface waters (U.S. EPA, 2022). A rain garden is one such practice. It is a small-scale landscape feature planted with native shrubs, perennial plants, or flowers in a shallow depression. It captures and stores runoff, allowing it to slowly infiltrate into the soil. At the property scale and when properly located, rain gardens lessen erosion in steeply sloped areas, reduce the potential for water to flow into basements, and minimize ponding in areas with poor drainage. The net effect of multiple green infrastructure practices can reduce streambank erosion and downstream flooding as stream flows decrease. Water quality is also affected as plants and microbes in the soil filter nutrients and some heavy metals as the stormwater soaks into the soil.<\/p>\n

To receive the free download for the Introduction to Rain Garden Design please visit The Education Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>Community Development<\/a>, Purdue Extension Program
\n<\/strong>Environmental Planning in Community Plans<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension’s resource center
\nEnhancing the Value of Public Spaces: Creating Healthy Communities<\/a>, The Education Store
\nConservation through Community Leadership<\/a>, The Education Store
\nTree Installation: Process and Practices<\/a>, The Education Store
\nPlanting Forest Trees and Shrubs in Indiana<\/a>, The Education Store
\nPlanting Your Tree Part 1: Choosing Your Tree, Video<\/a>, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel
\nSubscribe – Purdue Extension \u2013 Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel<\/a>
\nPurdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources Calendar<\/a>, workshops and Conferences<\/p>\n

Kara A Salazar<\/a>, Sustainable Communities
\nPurdue Community Development Extension Specialist<\/p>\n

Sara Winnike McMillan<\/a>, Associate Professor
\nPurdue University<\/p>\n

Payton Ginestra<\/a>, Natural Resources and Environmental Science
\nPurdue University<\/p>\n

Laura Esman<\/a>, Water Quality Program Coordinator
\nPurdue University<\/p>\n

John Orick<\/a>, Purdue Extension Master Gardener State Coordinator
\nPurdue University
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A rain garden is a green infrastructure project that can improve the quality of stormwater, minimize pollution, and enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitat. Purdue, Iowa State and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant researchers explain how to site, size, design, install and maintain a rain garden, and provide advice on plant selection, too. When stormwater runs off streets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,43,45,49],"tags":[61,1704,67,1564,1261,293,213],"class_list":["post-21913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forestry","category-gardening","category-howto","category-plants","tag-gardening","tag-guides","tag-plants","tag-purdue-extension-forestry-and-natural-resources","tag-rain-garden","tag-rainscaping","tag-sustainable-communities","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21913"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35275,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21913\/revisions\/35275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}