firstimegardener
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Good place for a rain garden?

Hi!
I'm not sure if this should go in this forum or the lawn care forum so I just kinda picked one. If it should go in the other please let me know!

Anyway, I have a spot in my lawn that runs along almost the length of my porch (about 8 ft?) and along my homes foundation (about 6 ft?) I have tried for the past couple of years to grow grass there, but the moss chokes it out...even if I remove the moss, it comes back and kills the lawn. Even when we moved in, the rest of the lawn was beautiful, but this one spot was just moss. I was told that it was because we are surrounded by pine trees, but the rest of my grass which is closer to the trees doesn't have moss to this extreme extent. It's always wet right there, even during a dry spell. I'm wondering (if I can convince the land lords) if this would be a good place for a rain garden? We get a LOT of rain. I am tired of fighting with this stupid spot and it makes the whole backyard look bad...

Thoughts?

Forgot: I'm in zone 5...part of my concern is having a rain garden against the foundation of the house.....

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applestar
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I think you have the right idea that something OTHER than grass should be grown there.

What is the house built on - concrete slab, crawlspace, cellar?
Raingarden instructions recommend situating AWAY from the foundation by x number of feet.

Which side of the house is this on? North? Is it a shady location from trees, etc.? If moss is happy there, fern would grow well there too, I expect.

On the other hand, if you want the area to dry out, then digging a Raingarden the recommended number of feet OUT from the foundation will help drain the wet area along the foundation. (Sorry I can't remember the exact number but I'm thinking at least 6~8 feet out for slab and 10~15 feet out for cellar, but I might be wrong). You could still plant a garden there but not have to be as concerned about too much moisture close to the foundation.

firstimegardener
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Ferns would be very pretty but anytime I am within 10 feet of them I break out in hives....

I also considered putting a small ditch (with small rock...don't know what it would be called...) along the house a couple of feet away and having it drain down to about where I keep my trash can...there's a nice spot there I could put a rain garden, and if I put something climbing, I could make a lattice backboard and have the climbing plant go up it...that would give us a bit more privacy too...The upstairs of my house overhangs the downstairs by about a foot, so the middle of the ditch could be maybe 18 inches to 2 feet away from the foundation....I'd just have to find somewhere else for the trash!

We are in a split level...I THINK it has a crawl space but I could be wrong????

bullthistle
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Location: North Carolina

It all depends what zone you are in but potentilla is native to blogs and they do best in cooler climates but bloom all summer long, yellow, white, orange/pink. Instead of making a chore for a small spot plant woody plants and they will love it as long as they get some sun.

firstimegardener
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Thanks for the idea bullthistle...I looked at looked at our backyard last night, then talked to my husband who looked and looked...finally figured out why that one spot gets so wet. For some reason, when they built the house and did the landscaping, they made the yard slope...towards the house...to this ONE spot right against the house. It took some figuring because the slop isn't very noticeable unless you look. It probably wouldn't be a big deal if it was only part of the yard sloping towards it, but our yard is wet anyway, so this one spot is awful.

So, no rain garden at the end of the house because we'd have to dig down so deep to try to make it work. I'm thinking I'm going to take the advice of making a flower garden there with plants that weather well. That will hopefully help some of the water and get rid of the nasty looking area. Where I was going to put the rain garden at the end of the house, I am thinking I may put lattice board and plant morning glory to climb up it. You can see the yard from the road, so it would help give us privacy.

We rent, and I love our house and such, but I don't have quite the freedom to do what I want like I would if it was our yard. However, if I was a landlord, I'd be happy someone was helping increase the value of my home by making the yard look nice. I figure I'm not going to put too much money into it, but I can still work on it. If they don't like it, when I move they can make me tear it all out.

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rainbowgardener
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You should talk to the landlord... Really the yard should be re-graded to slope away from the house. Having it slope toward the house is just asking for trouble... excess water getting into walls, roofs, foundations, etc is the number one destroyer of houses.

firstimegardener
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Rainbowgardener

We have. They just don't care. As long as we pay the rent they are happy. They are good with keeping the heat going and such but don't seem to care about the rest of it. I don't know why. If it was my rental I'd want to care for it better. Maybe for them, it's just about the money, I don't know....



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