Arden
Capture Rainwater and Create Beauty in Your Backyard
A rain garden turns roof runoff into a thriving ecosystem — lush native plants, happy pollinators, and zero standing water.
Why It Works
Rain gardens are shallow depressions planted with native species that capture and filter stormwater runoff from roofs, driveways, and patios. They solve drainage problems while creating some of the most biodiverse garden habitats possible. During rain events, water collects in the depression and slowly percolates through amended soil, filtering pollutants before they reach groundwater. Between rains, the garden looks like a lush, colorful perennial border. Rain gardens reduce municipal stormwater burden, prevent erosion, and support native pollinators — all while looking effortlessly beautiful.
Best for
- backyards where seating, paths, and a mow/edge plan are the real constraints
- people committing to a shallow basin, wet-tolerant plugs, and an overflow path
- people who will water through establishment season
Skip if
- you will not check how much of the day the main sitting area actually gets sun before buying plants
- you cannot grade an overflow away from the house
Common mistakes
For a rain backyard, the usual miss is a soggy hole with no overflow that drowns plants and the foundation. People also ignore how much of the day the main sitting area actually gets sun and end up with a floating patio with no planting edge or shade strategy. Names like native, perennial, mulch only work when massed with intent — not one of each from the nursery cart.
Plan this first
Size the sitting pad and one path from the house before the plant shopping trip. Set inlet, basin depth, and overflow first — plants come after the water has a job. Preview that massing in Arden from the main viewing angle before you buy native, perennial, mulch.
How to Achieve This Look
Site the rain garden 10+ feet from your house foundation in a naturally low area or where downspouts currently discharge. Excavate a shallow bowl (6–12 inches deep) and amend the soil with a 60/20/20 mix of sand, compost, and topsoil for rapid infiltration. Plant in three zones: the center (wettest) with cardinal flower, blue flag iris, and sedges; the middle slope with bee balm, Joe Pye weed, and switchgrass; and the outer rim (driest) with black-eyed Susans, echinacea, and little bluestem. Mulch with shredded hardwood. Direct downspout discharge to the garden via a buried pipe or surface channel.
Try It with AI
Arden helps you visualize how a rain garden will look in your backyard — from the lush midsummer bloom to the structural winter seedheads. Preview different planting palettes and depression shapes before breaking ground.
“Redesigned the whole backyard before I bought a single plant. Saved me from a couple of bad calls.”
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Does a rain garden attract mosquitoes?
No. A properly designed rain garden drains within 24–48 hours — too fast for mosquito larvae to develop (they need 7–10 days of standing water). If water persists longer, the soil mix needs more sand.
02 How big should a backyard rain garden be?
Size it at 20–30% of the impervious surface draining into it. For a typical residential roof, that means a rain garden 100–200 square feet — roughly a 10x15-foot oval.
03 Do rain gardens work in clay soil?
Yes, but you must excavate deeper (18–24 inches) and replace the clay with a sandy amended mix. A French drain overflow can handle extreme rain events on heavy clay sites.
