Experience with rain gardens?

Q & A
1

We would like to disconnect our downspouts to drain into some planting swales and eventually a pond. We have a small urban lot in Comox.
Does anyone have experience doing this? Did you do the work yourselves or hire someone?
I can find references for how to do this in Washington State and around Portland but no BC-specific references. Do we get too much rain for this strategy to work well here?

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2

I noticed a rain spout diverter at Lee Valley. You could phone them and ask about it; I have found them very knowledgable and helpful.

3

Thanks for the tip! I hadn’t thought of looking through their catalogue.

4

You might consider draining into rain barrels instead of directly into a garden, since we can sometimes get HUGE deluges that could overwhelm a garden. The water would also come in handy when we are in a drought.

5

Thanks, I had thought of rain barrels but I would need several to provide sufficient water throughout the summer. I think I’ll focus more on a xeriscaping approach.

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6

hello , as I write it is pouring here and our rain chain is working overtime. The public library has some excellent titles available to patrons on xeriscaping and creating ponds, rain gardens etc. We are going to hook up a cistern to harvest the rain water currently saturating our flower beds and lawn.

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7

Thanks Judy (Dianna here). I’ve looked at several library books: Creating Rain Gardens by C. Woelfle-Erskine and A. Uncapher is especially detailed and useful. I was hoping to find someone who actually installed a rain garden or a swale to see how well it is working relative to the theory.

8

I would reach out to the folks at Coastal Waterscapes based in Cumberland. I don’t think they have a webpage but they do have a facebook page - that might be the easiest way to reach them for setting up a consultation?

9

Thanks for this lead. I’m not on Facebook so that company didn’t show up in my initial search.