Home Landscaping and the Environment
Every drop of water that lands in Northeast Ohio yards will end up in a stream that runs into Lake Erie. Some of this precipitation may take hundreds of years to move through the soil and groundwater but the water that hits your roof flows down a downspout, through storm sewer pipes, and reaches a stream in less than an hour. This fast runoff can carry fertilizers, sediment, and excess heat that degrade water quality.
Rain barrels and rain gardens are two ways to combat this problem. A rain barrel is an old idea with a new purpose. Fifty years ago it was common to harvest rain water for uses around the house. Rain water cisterns were build right into the rafters of homes or in the foundations of buildings and used in a variety of ways, including bathing or laundry.
Today rain barrels are substituted for permanent cisterns, although rain water cisterns are a component of the green building movement; and are used for less critical water uses such as watering plants and washing patios. Simply put, a rain barrel is a tank that catches water coming off a roof. Since your house likely already has gutters and downspouts, all you need to do is divert some of that water into a barrel. Any water in excess of the capacity of the barrel continues on down the downspout as it did before. This way, the barrel never overflows and the systems can be closed to keep the water clean and mosquito free.
Rain gardens are a newer idea. They take the water from a downspout and direct it into a shallow depression planted with water-tolerant perennials. The water is held in the rain garden, where it is allowed to evaporate, slowly soak into the ground, or be used by the plants. Many of the plants that thrive in rain gardens also attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
