How to Maintain a Rain Garden
Here at Rain Control Gutters
, we’ve been talking about rain gardens a great deal. They’re just such a great, natural way to harness the water that flows from your downspout in a useful, beautiful way.
However, we’ve never talked about how to keep a rain garden healthy. We’ve stressed how low-maintenance they are, but it’s important to be clear that “low” maintenance does not mean “no” maintenance.
First, you will need to plan on adding mulch to your rain garden every year. Mulch helps direct the flow of water towards plant roots.
Mulch also helps to reduce weeds. It also helps plants stay stable and strong inside of the bed.
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you don’t need to weed just because you’ve got mulch! All rain gardens need a little bit of weeding so that the plants you mean to keep around in them will thrive.
In addition, you can’t neglect watering–at least not at first. New plants need some time to get established, and you can’t ensure that it will rain the moment you put them in the ground.
Once they are established, local rain garden plants will generally thrive on normal rain patterns, but you still have to be vigilant about those patterns. If there’s a drought you’ll have to go water them yourself.
Finally, you’ll need to work to remove dead vegetation and debris from your garden. This is an important part of keeping your garden attractive. You might also need to replace some plants from time to time as plants fail.
Remember! Rain gardens work best with local plants that thrive in moist environment. And since local plants are such an important part of our eco-system you’ll be tackling Florida conservation issues on two fronts!
We’ve been offering seamless aluminum rain gutters in St. Petersburg, Largo, Clearwater and the rest of the Tampa metro area for over 35 years. If you’d like brand new gutters to feed your rain garden, call us today for a free estimate.






