Where Should the Water Go?
When you use the water from your downspout, you can harvest a significant amount of water for your garden.Oh where, oh where should your water go? When you are lucky enough to have an abundant or overabundant supply of water, there are so many things you could do with that water. You also need to be careful as you manage it to ensure that the water goes where you want it to go. If you’re considering a new gutter installation or planning to divert your downspout, here are a few ways that you can use that water around your home and in your garden rather than sending it off to the sewers.
The Challenges of Abundant Water
Whether you live in a place where you have a rainy season or you have sudden storms, you may find yourself with a lot of water on your hands. That’s fine, as long as it’s not in your building as well. When you have a large rainfall event, you need to ensure that your gutters are free of debris and that your downspouts are in good working order. Water needs to move down from your roof and away from your siding and foundation, or leaks and rot can ensue. Right now, your downspout may carry water from your roof into a storm drain or sanitary sewer, or it might move the water to an area that’s further away from your home. You can take advantage of this water by using it in your landscape.
Adding a Rain Barrel
Aboveground or underground, a rainwater tank is one of the simplest ways to store your rainwater. You can do this by adding a downspout diverter to your downspout and moving the rainwater into a tank, which you can use to water your garden during the drier months of the year. If you’re more serious about using rainwater for many of your home and garden needs, your downspouts can drain to an underground tank that serves as a repository for water and can be part of your home water strategy during the dry season.
Use marginal wetland plants that will survive easily in your rain garden.Building a Rain Garden
A rain garden using the rainwater you collect to build a lush garden that might not otherwise grow in your garden. Move that rainwater into a hollow that’s away from your foundation but deep enough to capture and store water. This acts as a miniature wetland in your garden landscape. For the best success with plant survival, choose native wetland plants that grow on the margins of wetlands where they’ll be periodically inundated or dry.
Adding Swales to Your Garden
Whether you’re working with water from a downspout or using water that naturally pools in your garden, you can use the water from your roof and channel it away from your home and into trenches called swales. These trenches don’t need to be deep to slow down the water. If you have a hill and water moves down it, dig small trenches on contour and plant just beneath them. The water will flow into the trench and soak in, and the plants that grow below the trench will thrive.
Are you planning to install new gutters? Visit Harry Helmet to learn about our innovative Gutter Guard and Gutter Helmet products. Our gutter solutions will reduce your ongoing maintenance and help you enjoy your garden. Contact Harry Helmet today.
