Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are landscape features that help to absorb and filter stormwater (rain and melted snow). They consist of native shrubs, perennials and flowers planted in a shallow depression filled with loose, deep soil. Rain gardens are designed to capture more water than a normal garden, and can absorb as much as 30% more water than a patch of lawn! Rain gardens are not meant to contain standing water - they should drain within 24 to 48 hours of a large rainfall.

Benefits of planting a rain garden on your property

Rain gardens can be beautiful, low-maintenance and highly beneficial additions to your property. They can be designed to different sizes and to complement any style of landscape. 

Rain gardens:

• Reduce the amount of stormwater and pollutants entering our stormwater system and waterways
• Can be planted in areas where water pools, to reduce standing water on your property
• Provide low maintenance aesthetic value with native plants that require little watering
• Provide important pollinator habitat, and attract birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects such as dragonflies
• Increase the recharge of our groundwater systems

How do rain gardens help manage stormwater?

The City’s stormwater system is designed to collect runoff from roofs, roads, parking lots, and lawns, and convey it into natural waterways. This system cannot remove all the fertilizers, pesticides, and road salt from the runoff, resulting in negative impacts to fish habitat and sensitive wetlands. More intense storms from climate change can introduce too much water too quickly and overwhelm the system, leading to an increased risk of flooding.

Rain gardens can help protect our natural environment and control the impacts of climate change by reducing the amount of water and pollutants entering the stormwater system.

Check out these short but informative videos to learn more:

• Rain Gardens Explained in 2 Minutes
• Managing Stormwater Runoff

Looking to get started?

Rain gardens come in all shapes, sizes, and preferences. Planting a rain garden can be simple or complex depending on what your property is like, what kind of budget you have, and how you want it to look. 

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s Complete Guide to Building and Maintaining a Rain Garden provides step-by-step instructions on how to build a rain garden.

Bringing more rain gardens to Richmond Hill

Richmond Hill is pursuing opportunities to add rain gardens to public lands, and has recently incorporated rain garden designs into the Minthorn Park and Dorothy Park revitalizations. Through the Minthorn Park revitalization project, the City is seeking community input for bringing more rain gardens into private property.

With a grant from ICLEI Canada’s Advancing Adaptation program, the City held a Rain Gardens and Climate Change workshop in late 2022 and a follow up Open House in May 2023 to discuss different ways residents can adapt their gardens to mitigate climate change impacts. Participants at these events helped identify suitable resources and techniques for educating the community about rain gardens.

The City is using input from residents to develop a public education and engagement program.  To contribute, or to learn more about this project, contact greeningthehill@richmondhill.ca.