Fish Like a GIRL

As many readers know, we bought a house in the late summer of 2022 as Chet was recovering from a pretty major heart attack. Caring for his medical needs at the time meant I did not get much done in the way of gardening or, really, settling into the house like a couple normally would.

Fast forward to the summer of 2023. We made some pretty big improvements to our garage. Most of the summer was spent on that comedy of errors, and please do not even get me started about “concrete guys.” 

I was able to get my vegetable garden going and early in the year we created two raised beds that made gardening a breeze. They also kept the bunnies looking for food elsewhere. There is plenty for them to eat, so no motivation to jump up into the two-foot-high beds. Chet did find a nest of baby bunnies, which could not have been more than a day or two old, near some daffodils that the previous owner planted on the side of the house. Obviously, I was not incredibly happy about being overrun with the little fur balls, but I was compelled to let them be anyway. We do not have much in the way of wildlife living in town as we do — at least not to the point that I am used to having critters outside my door. And, I felt the red-tailed hawk that had been hanging around deserved to have meal choices.

This year, with the garage improvements done and, hopefully, major health concerns behind us, it is time to really focus on the rest of the yard. I was excited to see some webinar opportunities come through my email from Melinda Meyers. Of course I signed up for every one of them immediately.

One of the gardening topics Meyers talks about is rain gardens. I should also mention here that Chet had never heard of a rain garden. I realized in a conversation just this week (although I have been talking about a rain garden since we moved in) that he thought I was looking for some elaborate water feature in our backyard. By contrast to a major undertaking such as that, rain gardens are meant to make a part of the yard somewhat maintenance free eventually.

It does take a bit to create a rain garden normally. This particular rain garden, though, will be situated at the end of our sump pump drain. We currently have a piece of PVC pipe that serves as the outflow for the sump pump. It is just over 10 feet long and does a perfect job of keeping the water away from the foundation of the house. Functional, I will call it. Beautiful, definitely not. It would be nice to not see that, and I think a nice rain garden at its point farthest from the house is going to look great. I will also use native plants that like their feet a bit drier to hide the pipe as it comes from the house to the end where the garden will be planted.

One nice thing about my project is that the slope is already there. The water is already moving in the direction it needs to move. That will make the digging process a bit easier. I have also been here long enough that I have a good idea of how much of the yard in that spot tends to stay wet after a soaking rain or during the spring thaw. That makes knowing the size of the garden fairly easy. For those who are not as lucky, or who may be building a rain garden in a different situation where they are looking to keep water where it falls, there are a ton of good websites out there to find calculations for size and depth of the rain garden. I would recommend the Healthy Lakes and Rivers, even if the property is not on or even near a lake. The site is a great resource to learn more.

Now, to the other great resource, and that is Meyers herself. She just released a series of webinars about rain gardens as well as one about hydrangeas, which I watched with interest, having inherited one on the corner of the house we bought. But the rain gardens were really my target. 

I would recommend these recordings, as well as the Healthy Lakes and Rivers information to anyone contemplating a rain garden. I will share both links at the end of this column.

Her series started out with How to Plan a Rain Garden. Although I have it already in my head, this presentation, and its accompanying handout, made me really drill down to what I need to think about when finalizing the plan. The handout truly gives a checklist of things so a gardener does not forget something important — or something they never realized would be important. 

The big one for me was the webinar after that (which is also already up on her website). That was How to Select Rain Garden Plants. One of the important things to remember here is the amount of sunlight various plants require. Sun-loving plants need 6-8 hours of sun during the day. Meyers recommended erring toward the top end of that range versus the lower end. Those plants labeled “partial shade” still need 3-6 hours of direct sun throughout the growing season in order to thrive. Shade plants are just fine with less than 3 hours of direct sun. 

She spoke about forbs, and sedges, which is something I am really looking to incorporate, but have not had much experience growing. They make a great backdrop for showy flowers and also provide visual interest throughout the winter. 

I think I have a perfect place or two for some little bluestem, so that plant is definitely on my “try” list for this year. I have wild bergamot and butterfly weed that I transplanted from another gardener down the street. They have taken a bit to get going, but they are poised to look great this year and start to fill in their spaces. 

Of course, I plan to plant some milkweed. For those who do not know, or who not have experimented with milkweed, one has to be careful about the particular species of milkweed they plant. Common milkweed can be super aggressive. 

Last year, at Garden Fest, I talked to more than one person who was at their wits end trying to contain common milkweed. Swamp milkweed is a much better choice and will do just as much for monarchs and other pollinators. 

Wild lupine, of course, is the Karner blue butterfy’s mainstay and is needed to support those populations. Whether or not we live in a place where the Karner blue is known to inhabit, I still have always loved the look of wild lupine. I understand they are toxic to humans, so I suppose people with young children would want to keep that in mind. But their tall, purple flowers are striking and will be a welcome addition to my garden. 

While the actual rain garden itself will be full of plants that like to get their feet wet, so to speak, the native plants alongside the PVC pipe leading out to the yard can be plants such as rattlesnake master. Rattlesnake master develops root rot easily, but it would work perfect up toward the house under the eves. This plant has cool looking round green flowers. Another on my “must try” list. I might start that part of the yard with annuals, as they are cheap and provide more of an “instant” gratification than waiting for a perennial to take hold and fill up a space. 

There is nothing wrong with annuals in any sort of garden. In fact, as I just stated, they can be a less expensive way to fill a space while a gardener waits for perennials to fill in. Another plus of annuals is that they give the gardener time to decide what colors and textures they truly want in a given area. Bought a plant that does not fit in the space or with other plants? No big deal. It will only be there for this year anyway. That is part of what makes annuals fun. I look forward to what all of the plants I purchase can teach me this year. That is all part of gardening — just listening to the plants, maybe moving them to a new location, and sometimes just starting all over again!

To learn more about rain gardens, visit the Healthy Lakes and Rivers Program website at healthylakeswi.org. 

To view Melinda Meyers’ presentations, and to download her handouts, see her website at melindameyers.com

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].