The Little Prairie

03
Revealing the Flow of Rain

To address drainage issues from our neighbor’s lot, we regraded the side yard to create a swale that directs runoff toward the front yard. Unlike a typical swale that flows uninterrupted to the street, ours is intentionally intercepted by a rain garden—capturing and absorbing stormwater on site by taking advantage of the yard’s fast-draining sandy soil.

At the same time, we replaced the traditional downspout with a rain chain that feeds into a rain barrel. This setup stores water for future irrigation and, paired with a series of runnels, becomes a playful water feature for the kids after each rainfall.

Components that reveal the water story 

This diagram illustrates how much stormwater is captured on site—and how quickly it drains through the landscape, revealing the performance of the rain garden in real time.


Rain Features That Invite Play and Spark Curiosity
Designing your raingarden stretches farther than serving a practical purpose! Creating this raingarden as an immersive and interactive play experience was just as important as stormwater treatment.






Raingarden at work 






Background and Resources on Raingardens

 What is a raingarden?
A raingarden is a sunken shaped garden designated to capture rain from roads, rooftops, driveways, and other impervious surfaces. This rainwater sits in the raingarden and is infiltrated by plants that treat stormwater before it reaches our lakes and streams.


What are the benefits of a raingarden?
  • Pollutants are filtered out before reaching our lakes and streams, which contributes to healthy waters
  • Potential floods are controlled, especially floods near your home
  • Plants contribute to a diverse ecosystem, which support wildlife and pollinator habitat.

Designing and budgeting for your raingarden:
Fortunately, designing your raingarden can be done in collaboration with your local watershed district. Watersheds organizations are dedicated to protecting and preventing stormwater pollution from entering water bodies and the Mississippi River. 

Watershed districts such as The Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) provide grants that reimburse up to 95% of residential raingarden project costs! These projects are often accompanied with a maintenance plan to ensure your raingarden functions properly and is long-lasting. 

The Twin Cities metro area has many watershed organizations. Below are watershed organizations that provide funding for your raingarden project. To view the location of your watershed, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency shares a map and a list here. 


1     What Sparked It All
2     Understanding the Site 
3     Revealing the Flow of Rain
4     Designing with Repurposed Materials
5     How It All Came Together
6     Tasty Natives We Love    
7     Planting and Establishment Process
8     What It All Cost
9     Lessons Learned
Curious about Ping and what inspires our projects? Come explore more at ping-la.com

Ping Design, LLC
Saint Paul, MN