Water Woes

April showers might bring May flowers, but springtime rains have usually brought me an abundance of that most unwelcome of guests: flooding water.  I'm not talking about an unwanted puddle here and there.  Or a soggy spot where I long to grow arid-loving perennials  Oh, no.  I'm talking deluge. 

Be it the countless seasons of consistent, battering raindrops or the dam-breaking, flooding kind of rain that hits with a force and speed that has not only washed away tenderly planted seedlings, but well-established plantings, my property has weathered every kind of storm that tosses its way.  Last June, a sudden storm sprung up, taking all the local weather forecasters by surprise and taking an even greater toll on our property, scattering drainage rocks to the street and decimating portions of our brick driveway.

So, in the wake of Mother Nature's greatest hits--hurricanes Floyd, Irene and Sandy, as well as the no-namers in between--I've learned a thing or two about channeling unwanted water. And I've found the best way to control erosion is by placing smart plantings around the property: my own, tailor-made rain garden.

So what exactly IS a rain garden?  Simply put, it looks like an ornamental perennial garden, but in reality, it is so much more!  It's designed to incorporate a shallow depression that collects and filters rain water and runoff from hard surfaces, like walkways, roofs and driveways.  It has a ponding depth of only a few inches in order to hold water for a day or so.  This slows runoff--and the erosion that occurs when water races over the ground at great speed, taking out everything in its path.  Most rain gardens hold and filter about 30% more rainfall than lawns.

Everyone's property is different, so individual plantings will vary depending on season, zone and light and soil conditions, but in general, plan your rain garden on a gentle slope in the path of runoff.  Most rain gardens cover 100-300 feet.

I've listed my top 10 favorite plants to help control the flow of water around my upstate New York yard:

For mostly sunny spots, I like, Ilex verticillata--Winterberry shrubs--to anchor the area.  I like to sprinkle color around the site, so I may opt for purple Iris verticillata (Blue flag Iris) for spring and a blazing red Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower) for a warm shot of color in a mid-to-late summer garden.  I enjoy varying the texture with the spiky form of a Carex grayii (Grey's sedge) and an overall groundcover that always works in moist conditions is Asarum caudatum (Western wild ginger).

If your site is shadier, opt for Fothergilla gardenii, a shade-loving shrub with a lovely shape and scarlet leaves come fall.  Dicentra eximia  (Wild bleeding heart), Geranium maculatum (Wild geranium) and Viola labridorica (Labrador violet) provide shots of color to the spring and early summer garden, while feathery ferns add a touch of whimsy all season long (Osmunda claytoniana--Interrupted fern--and Adiantum pedatum--Maidenhair fern--work best in the wettest conditions).