Rain Gardens

Today I was driving in a downpour watching rivers of water running along the curbs. I thought it would be great if we had more rain gardens to filter all the excess runoff. I decided to bring up the topic while I had that visual in my head.

I've mentioned in my profile and in a previous post  that I'm interested in rain gardens.  I've got a Rain Garden board in Pinterest, but it's taking some time to find pins or photos for it. Obviously, people who live in dry climates probably haven't heard of a rain garden.  I'm guessing that most people who live in my climate may have heard of them, but still aren't sure what they are.

In my profession (land use and landscape architecture) rain gardens are usually designed by the civil engineer for a commercial project. Some jurisdictions, like Clark County have started to implement them along roads. Sometimes you'll see a magazine article about adding one to your yard.

So for now I'll share 2 photos from my trip to Port Townsend, WA last fall.

Rain Garden to the right of the walk.

This is a walk behind the hotel we stayed at in Port Townsend. I looked out the window and saw this sign posted right behind our room. 

Port Townsend Rain Garden  Sign

Even if you can't read the sign's text, you get the idea. Water that could go directly off the street to a storm drain is being re-routed though a rain garden's plants and soil to filter out toxins before entering the water body. It's that simple. Port Townsend just made it pretty.