Rain Gardens in Reston
(Posted Nov. 14, 2023) By Cat Castrence
Does your yard or cluster common area have a lot of rain runoff? One way to help alleviate persistent water runoff is by creating a rain garden; Fairfax County offers a wide variety of resources and explanations on what constitutes a rain garden. Low-impact development (LID) practices are increasingly being adopted to manage stormwater runoff as close to its source as possible. Rain gardens, green roofs and rain barrels are some of the most widely known LID practices; these techniques can help protect nearby streams and rivers by trapping rainwater and allowing it to soak into the ground over time, resulting in improvements to both the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff.
Please see below for some helpful tips, information and resources on rain gardens:
‘Rain gardening’ has only been around for approximately 35 years; streams and rivers were becoming increasingly degraded as water ran off the land instead of being absorbed by plants and soil. Rain gardens, or bioretention areas, were first conceived in 1990 by stormwater specialists in the state of Maryland.
A rain garden is a planting area of native shrubs, perennials, and flowers installed in a small depression, which is generally formed on a natural slope. It is designed to temporarily hold and soak in rainwater runoff that flows from roofs, driveways, patios or lawns.
What is the difference between a swale and a rain garden? Although they are similar, bioswales are designed to slow down rainwater through a curving or linear path, while rain gardens are designed to capture, store and infiltrate rainwater in a bowl shape.
Fairfax County provides in-depth, comprehensive Rain Garden Workshops several times per year. For more information, please visit the following link: Residential Rain Gardens.
Another great resource on rain gardening is a step-by-step manual called “A Northern Virginia Homeowner's Guide”; this guide includes tips on materials, a worksheet to help you design and size your garden and a plant list, and is a joint publication of the Fairfax County Park Authority and the Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation District. You can download your copy here.
Before designing and installing your rain garden, please consult the list of plants that are and are not allowed in Reston by checking out this link: Native Plants in Virginia.
Finally, a DRB application will not generally be required for constructing a rain garden in Reston, as the components of a typical bioretention area are installed underground, and as such, would not require review by Reston Association’s Design Review Board. However, it is always advisable to check in with your Covenants Advisor before proceeding with any project, particularly a project planned for a condo or cluster common area, to be sure.
Happy rain gardening!