Sizing Your Rain Garden

How to Build a Rain Garden  

Part 2  Planning My Rain Garden – Does Size Matter?

By Joy Smith

I am excited about the idea of building a rain garden to capture some of the runoff from our road, our driveway and our roof.  I am energized by what I am reading, but of course the labor part of the project doesn’t thrill me as much. I will recruit help for that.  I will use the Tom Sawyer method if possible. Remember how much fun fence painting is?

Right now I am thinking about where to locate my rain garden and figuring out how big it needs to be. To state the obvious, it needs to be between the source of our runoff and the lake. It needs to be located on our property because the Army Corp of Engineers does not look kindly on anything on their property, unless you have a permit.  

Spring Gardening Task List

SPRING CHECKLIST  of Things to do in the Garden  

By Mary Jane Bosworth

March, April and May are my favorite times in the garden.  Everything is new and fresh and I am still full of energy and determined to do better than the previous year.

March

• It's time to plant cool season vegetables, such as peas, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce,   spinach and root crops.  
• Vegetables and flowers that you want to plant outdoors next month may be started from seed indoors at this time.  These include tomatoes, eggplant and peppers as well as zinnias and cosmos.
• Before woody plants break dormancy, prune and apply dormant oil if needed.
• Prepare beds where vegetables will be grown when the soil is dry enough to crumble.
• Apply pre-emergent herbicides by the time dogwoods are in bloom.
• Deadhead spring flowering bulbs but leave the foliage until it is dry.
• After early flowering shrubs such as forsythia have blossomed, cut 1/3 of the oldest canes to the ground.

Amaryllis Annoyances

WHAT’S BUGGING ME?

Amaryllis Annoyances, by Juel Duke

The amaryllis is a plant that most everyone has had in their home, even if only for one bloom season.  They are popular gifts and dramatic decorations for the winter holidays. Most people know that the bulbs can be kept  and encouraged to bloom again. The bulbs can even be planted outside in most areas of Vance and Warren County, NC. Frankly, I’ve never been that brave, though I do keep them outside in the summer.

I have, over the years, kept bulbs from year to year with success though I don’t work at having them bloom for the holidays.  The bulb I bought a few years ago didn’t bloom last year despite having bloomed the previous two years.

That’s what bugs me about growing them. I just can’t seem to get it right.  

Tent Caterpillars Bugging You?

WHAT’S BUGGING YOU?  by Eileen Novak

It’s spring… no, it’s winter… no, it feels like summer… no, it’s almost spring… maybe.

Whatever the weather, you must know that the calendar says that spring is on its way.  So let’s learn about another of the pesky things in the garden and what you can and/or should do about them.

Tent Caterpillars.  Eastern tent caterpillars are somewhat hairy and black with gold, white and blue markings. They mostly like to invade wild cherry trees, but they will settle for apples and crabapples too.  They are easy to identify when they leave the tent that they spin for their protection in the crotch of trees. There is a white stripe down the back. The caterpillars grow up to almost 2 inches long.  When they are that long, you will find them crawling everywhere: up the screens and window, in the garage, just everywhere.

Part 1: What and Why of a Rain Garden

Building a Rain Garden in Your Yard 
               Can Be a Win-Win For Everyone
by Joy Smith
A rain garden can be a beautiful way to control runoff in your yard. We will learn more in a follow-up article about how to build a rain garden and what beautiful plants you can use, but let’s get started now with talking about why a rain garden is a win-win project for everyone.
We all have water that runs off our roof, our driveway, and our other impermeable surfaces. Watching water run swiftly down your driveway can be fun to watch, unless it is running into your garage or where you need to walk. Runoff is also a nuisance if it is washing away the mulch you just bought and put down, washing away your expensive grass seed, or making gullies in your golf cart and walking paths. What if the water is sitting on your sidewalk and you have to get your feet wet to get in or out of your house? Well, maybe we can direct the water to our neighbors’ yard. I have seen this done, but that is rather unkind and there are better ways. If we can stop the runoff from being a nuisance it is a definite win for us and a rain garden can do this.
A rain garden can be environmentally friendly. Rain gardens are built to encourage runoff to seep back into the ground, where it is naturally filtered, rather than running directly into storm drains or natural bodies of water like rivers, streams and lakes. Runoff can contain pollutants such as fertilizer and motor oil that it picks up on its journey off your roof, down your street or through your yard. So what can we do? You guessed it, build a rain gardens to help prevent runoff from pouring those pollutants directly into our drinking water and recreational areas.
You may have noticed that rain gardens are being built in many commercial developments like office building, schools and shopping centers. If you have not noticed, start looking around, they are there. This is happening because these projects often have very large impermeable surfaces that generate a lot of runoff. So once again, the rain gardens serve a purpose and they add interest to the landscape. I am always interested in them when I see them.
Finally, I just like doing things that make me feel like a good citizen. How about you? I bet you feel the same way. So building a rain garden in your yard can be a win for you and a win for our water. Did I peak your interest? If so, look for another installment, “How to Build a Rain Garden” in the next edition of The Garden Path.
If you can’t wait for that and want to learn more now check out all this resource: https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RGmanual2015.pdf

Garden Path Newsletter, February 2016

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our newsletter, with timely tips, our plant of the month, herb of the month, and much more! Download it from the following link:

https://vance.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/feb2016.pdf?fwd=no

Garden Path Newsletter, December 2015

For the latest issue of our Garden Path newsletter, please click here. As usual, you will find an abundance of timely tips, including our Plant of the Month, Herb of the Month, and much more! All articles are written by the Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Vance and Warren Counties.