(3/14) Our entire property sits on a hill which slants downward toward the street.

I learned about rain gardens somewhere around 2017 when I learned that they work to greatly reduce stormwater run-off and help prevent flooding of the streets during a heavy rain. By stopping the flow of running water, they then filter the water through the ground to remove harmful impurities before it reaches our waterways. While doing all those tasks, rain gardens provide habitat for birds, butterflies, and other small wildlife - especially if you fill them with native plants. This was probably the first time that it occurred to me that what I did on my own property had consequences as far reaching as the Chesapeake Bay!

Before I knew anything about rain gardens, I had built a retaining wall that runs along three-fourths of the front of our property. In doing that I inadvertently created a rain garden effect which stopped and absorbed a large amount of rainwater run-off when my only motive had been lawn mower safety and a level spot to garden.

In Lake Meade, we have a system of swales (ditches) that run-in front of every property for the purpose of directing water toward the lake. The problem is, water gushes through those swales carrying many pollutants with it as it goes. At one time, I had a large fir, that grew down near the swale with lawn grass planted in front of it towards our mailbox. It made mowing and maintenance very difficult, plus, after a rain, it was often too mushy to mow. I decided it was a great little area for a rain garden.

I had read that Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) will not only thrive in standing water, but will also easily adapt to common garden soil. That information was absolutely correct. I purchased three female Winterberries along with the corresponding male, and I prepared their soil with my compost, some wet newspaper, as many leaves as I could rake. I didn’t have to do much digging because the swale was already a very low spot.

We planted those Winterberries, and the first winter, was very cold. They were immersed in ice for a big part of the winter. We had never seen that standing water before, because all that water used to run right down the hill, across the street into the neighbor’s yard. Now it collects in the rain garden for a couple days before it is absorbed into the soil. The standing water just shows that this little rain garden is doing its job.

The first spring, we had a deluge of weeds appear in all that exposed ground. Actually, much of it came from flowering plant seeds carried down from my gardens. That was surprising because much of it was plants that prefer dry soil. Most of them didn’t survive the standing water of the winters, but some of them are still thriving around the edges.

There is still a nice growth of Penstemon around our mailbox each year. Penstemon thrives in dry soil, so it wouldn’t be a good pick for a rain garden, but this is just enough uphill from the wettest area, that it survives, but doesn’t take over the garden.

Weed wise, things got a little better after a couple years, but there was still a lot of maintenance. Then the violets moved in. They were the best gift! Violets are not only a native plant; they are a host plant for the Fritillary butterfly. They are also the best ground cover ever. They have completely covered the soil beneath and around those winterberry shrubs, and no weed has a chance against them! They will grow in the driest soil, or submerged under water for long periods of time. Nothing seems to faze them. The violet flowers turn the entire area blue for a couple weeks in early spring.

By now I have added a Culver’s root, a Swamp Milkweed, and a Spice Bush - all native plants.

One year, Adams Electric came along and cut down my big Fir tree leaving a huge open space. In place of the tree, I added two Northern Bayberry Shrubs with five Pink Muhly Grasses (again, all natives) in front of them. These are far enough up the hill from the rain garden that they are not subject to standing water. They all seem to be happy with their location.

The Northern Bayberry, Myrica pennsylvanica, is really a wonderful shrub. It has lovely, clean foliage that, in our planting zone, looks good all winter. The shrub is hardy from zones 3 - 8. It will tolerate almost any soil type and is not fussy about pH. It has tolerated the heat and drought of summer without complaint. It supports a lot of wildlife.

Most importantly, Myrica pennsylvanica is considered a Keystone plant according to USDA. There is a comparatively short list of designated keystone plants. These are the plants that are recognized as supplying the most support for pollinators. I am proud to say that I own two of them.

It has taken awhile, but the whole project is getting to the point where I think it is looking pretty good.

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