DIY rain gardens are beautiful way to have a more sustainable yard
Rain gardens are a great way to both have an attractive landscape feature and also enhance water quality in the drizzly Pacific Northwest. Forests and soils act as a filter for rainwater, cleaning it and releasing it slowly into creeks, streams, wetlands, lakes and eventually the ocean. Rain that falls on solid surfaces such as sidewalks, roads and roofs, collects the pollutants on these surfaces, bypassing the natural filter process, and carries them directly into waterways such as the Columbia river.