How To Create a Rain Garden | Ask This Old House
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ย. 2023
- In this video, when a pair of homeowners wanted to make the most of their roof space while preventing water run-off, they called on landscape contractor Jenn Nawada to help them handle the job.
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Jenn Nawada heads to Portland, Oregon to meet up with soil and water conservationist Kathy Shearin. Together they help a couple revitallize their front yard’s water run-off by installing a rain garden with native plantings.
Most homeowners love a big, green lawn around their homes. However, in rainy regions, those grass surfaces might as well be asphalt, rain water simply hits their surface and washes out to the street. There, it mixes with dirt, oil, and other waste before working its way back to streams and other water sources. That’s not an ideal use of water.
To prevent their northwest property from shedding more water than it should, a pair of homeowners decided to install a rain garden. Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada answered the call.
Difficulty: ⅖
Time: One weekend
Cost: Under $800
Where to find it?
Jenn marks out the area of the rain garden using spray paint [homedepot.sjv.io/KjWRE7]. Then Jenn, Kathy, and the homeowners use digging shovels [homedepot.sjv.io/vNOLvL] to remove the sod and start digging the basin.
To install the downspout extension [homedepot.sjv.io/Gm261n], Kathy cut the downspout with a hacksaw [homedepot.sjv.io/MmW4Vn] to the necessary measurement and capped the standpipe. She then attached [homedepot.sjv.io/R50Wna] an elbow to the downspout. Kathy then capped the downspout extension to the elbow.
To install the conveyance, Kathy, Jenn, and the homeowners used trenching shovels to dig a shallow trench about 6” in depth and 3-4” in diameter from the downspout to the rain garden’s basin. They then lined the entire stretch of the trench with pond liner [homedepot.sjv.io/rQBvWj]. Finally, they Fill the trench with ¾’ - 1 ½” river rocks [homedepot.sjv.io/Vm0rj6] or “drain rock”.
Jenn, Kathy, and the homeowners incorporate 4-way mix [homedepot.sjv.io/Y905ke] into the existing soil as they backfill the basin. Once the plants [homedepot.sjv.io/q4BRGb] are installed, they then cover the surrounding area with Fine Hemlock mulch [bit.ly/3tVTjXl].
Expert assistance provided by Kathy Shearin [emswcd.org/about/staff/], Urban Lands Program Supervisor at East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District [emswcd.org/] and by Drake’s 7 Dees Landscape Design [www.drakes7dees.com/].
Looking for more step by step guidance on how to complete projects around the house? Join This Old House Insider to stream over 1,000 episodes commercial-free: bit.ly/2GPiYbH
Materials:
Downspout diverter [homedepot.sjv.io/Gm261n]
Metal screws [homedepot.sjv.io/6eDazQ]
Marking paint [homedepot.sjv.io/KjWRE7]
Landscape fabric [homedepot.sjv.io/rQBvWj]
River rock [homedepot.sjv.io/Vm0rj6]
4-way soil mix [homedepot.sjv.io/Y905ke]
Rain garden-friendly plants [homedepot.sjv.io/q4BRGb]
Hemlock mulch [bit.ly/3tVTjXl]
Tool:
Hacksaw [homedepot.sjv.io/MmW4Vn]
Screwgun [homedepot.sjv.io/R50Wna]
Drill bits [homedepot.sjv.io/21JPeA]
Shovel [homedepot.sjv.io/vNOLvL]
Pickaxe [homedepot.sjv.io/an4J2R]
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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment-your home.
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How To Create a Rain Garden | Ask This Old House
/ thisoldhouse - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Always a joy to see Jen on the job, making the world a more beautiful and funcitonal place for all creatures!
Thats tulsi gabbard. so sweet of her to help those 2 guys with their garden.
This portland couple is a living caricature of themselves 😂😂😂
I just checked 2022 in Portland they had 4 inches more rain than there's average
Facts have no place in a good climate change fear monger
And they had no rain at all for the whole month of August.
❤
It really don’t show much how the rain garden should be constructed, like how depth, slope % and bottom must be flat. I will be nice to see how it works in more details because it is hard to look at the guide online
I think the design is pretty neat. The homeowners voiced what they wanted to achieve. I feel that Kathy really listened to them. Her executed design reflects that. This will be low in maintenance, high in water conservation, and once it matures the curb appeal will improve too. Nice work!
I like garden segments of this old house, kind of makes me wish I had a large garden
So it’s basically a self-watering garden?
Ayyyye, always good to see Jenn. I miss the This Old House hour....if only that annoying pbs app didn't require joining in order to use the tv app 🤯🙄
Hi Autumn!!!!
This sepsoide is so Portland it hurts. (also....Not sure how this rain garden "lessens their footprint" It's the PNW - it rains all the time here.)
In three ways. First, the downspout was redirected from flowing into the home's sanitary sewer system as it was originally designed to do which lessens the load at the water treatment plants (this is something a lot of water and sewer districts have mandated). Second, as they said about the lawn it's "green asphalt" which basically sheds water into the street and into the stormwater system, taking out a chunk of lawn and replacing it with a porous garden lets more water get absorbed into the ground rather than entering the street as runoff. And third and primarily, by having a garden that is watered by rainwater they don't have to use municipal water on the garden and they have less lawn that requires watering to keep it green.
@@douglasboyle6544 Yea, but still....
@@douglasboyle6544my city has a flat rate on water. I took out my front and back lawn the water bill is the same. Maybe I do less gardening.
@@bngr_bngr it's not about the cost it's about the usage.
Raingardens are good, but the talking points are so lame here.
Raingardens add beauty and variety to a garden, as well as lessen your need to irrigate, reduce lawn and "downstream" (neighbor's) flooding, raise aquifers,
etc.
That said they made a lot of mistakes here. That the raingarden is too small for the house counts as several...
As a landscape designer, I would’ve incorporated the rain garden a little better rather than this elongated appendage. And i wouldn’t have used flipped sod as the berm either, as that sod is going to come back and be difficult to cut with a lawn mower.
they just dug into the ground without calling 811?
Ya no locate markers there
They did. You can see at the 20sec mark, walking up past the hoses on the corner of the house is the spraypaint markers.
Presumably the other marks at the sidewalk are at the edges off camera.
Yup, they managed to choose people to help, scout the location, coordinate with an expert, fly camera crew and tv personality out there that does this for a living but couldn't figure out how to call 811.
The only way this episode could be made more Oregon, is if they add a Subaru Outb...
Nevermind.
Yep I am too
Can someone please answer my question. Im interested in using the rain water running from my house in my vegetable garden. I notice in this video, the house has asphalt shingles. Im wondering why theyre instructing the home owners to divert their water into their garden. Dont asphalt shingles leech toxic chemicals into the water?
I'd say that's a valid concern. Some jurisdictions don't allow you to capture rain water from rooftops for edible garden use (such as one that I've lived in).
1:10 add some cactus 🌵 in your yard! 🤣🤣😂😅🤣🤣
Ain’t no leaves falling for that Autumn 🫣
l'll always wonder how and why Portland draws in some of the most odd people. Is it the precipitation?
It's kind of like a wildlife refuge for a- sexual hipsters
I'm surprised people still live there!
Why? It’s a dope place
@@priceandpride depends where. There are great pockets still, but they're also near some pretty sketchy areas in NE.
@@priceandpridethere definitely plenty of dope and dopes there 👍 😅
@@ALMX5DPanywhere east of Portland is good 👍
Thanks for the video! Serious question here...won't the standing water attract the most dangerous animals in the world (mosquitos)? I realize they may be more commonly referred to as pests, but the malaria cases in Oregon include Plasmodium falciparum, which is the worst form of malaria you can get. I don't know that I'd be able to enjoy my acre of land if I can't sit outside due to an increase in mosquitos.
The water will drain into the soil, shouldn't have much standing water. Also there are almost no mosquitoes in the Portland area, and only one suspected local transmission of malaria in the last 30 years.
what standing water..?? did you even watch the same video as the rest of us?
@@albertorkenbjorken The water will collect in that garden for periods of time before it's absorbed / drained, especially with extended periods of rain common in that part of the country. You don't need to be snarky, it's a fair question.
@@bmckee5430 but it absorbs in a short amount of time.
It’s a good question. That’s why they did a percolation test, although they could’ve given more detail. Most mosquitoes need at least 7 days for eggs to hatch into larvae (which are aquatic), and rain gardens are designed to drain within about 24 hours or less. As long as the water drains, mosquitoes won’t be able to breed within the rain garden. Rain gardens can also attract mosquito predators like dragonflies and frogs, although they also require standing water to breed.
Roger already did a rain garden in Portland.
Im sure theres room for another....
350 Sq. ft. sounds way small. More like 2350 Sq. ft
350 refers only to the sqft of the roof that feeds that single downspout, not the total roof sqft
@@RussianBot382 you're right! That makes more sense
I was wondering why the garden was so tiny
Just get a beaver instead of a dog. In just a little while, the little buggers will have all your water retention needs taken care of.
Wow now actual sewer drain? That’s a recipe for disaster. Why is the swale so tiny?
Maybe it will look better after a year or so, but now it just looks silly. I would expect something like this from my 10 year old.
This the awkward beginning of pretty much every perennial garden.
I have to remember not to over plant and let everything mature in a year or two and it'll fill out nicely.
Right, it’s so tiny
Not buying it
Ahh Portland the city that chased away Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Home Depot is at Jantzen Beach along with Target. Walmart would probably do well there too but that’s on Walmart for not making it work.
@@elowell85 There's also the HDs in NE and SE Portland. Shame about Walmart, but at least the one down near Lents was always having issues with theft and crime.
@@elowell85 yes but it's a bum encampment now lol
@@brycehess6708 at jantzen beach HD? No it’s not
@@elowell85 literally is lol
Shout out to the haters and losers in this comment section desperately clutching at their pearls. Stay mad!
Who knew such a large section of this whole house? Fan base was super conservative and intolerant?
@@priceandpride it actually turns out you are the minority here and the ACTUAL intolerant one when it comes to conservatives
Am absolutely for raingardens because they are practical and add beauty.
If they waited another 20 years they will find the climate fluxes both way. We can have long and short cycle weather and assuming it is "human-caused" climate change is utter folly, as well as vanity.
Nice mosquito home 🦟
There is no standing water so mosquitos won't be a problem.
Rats
Lets rip up all this ground so we can throw in plastic and displaced rocks!
See where TOH is going😒
To Portland?
Didn't go over calling the right numbers for marking lines before digging in your yard. There have been several projects from this channel where comments point out major violations of best practice that will cause big messes. Gotta unsubscribe.
hahah you know they call ahead before filming right?? they have addressed this before in other episodes.. anyway byebye, cupcake. hhahaha
I kept trying to figure out what is it. China or Putin just need to take the whole west coast and clean it up
Awkward