Photos2009RGExcavating

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2009 Photos: The Rain Garden

Excavating

This spring, we decided to build a rain garden between our yard
and our neighbor Sue's yard.

We submitted a plan to Iowa City for the BMP cost
share application (Best Management Practices).
The program is for encouraging water diversion
from storm sewers for reduced pollution.
(Also helps with flooding.) In the end, the city
paid for 95% of the estimated materials cost!

We had several lilac bushes lining the fence on our side, and
Sue had some conifer trees that we cut down. Here's what
it looked like after everything was chopped down.

We got a trencher and dug a 4" wide line between our houses.

We trenched a diagonal line across our backyard...

And across Sue's yard. Chant's having fun w/ all those levers!

Video of Chant working the Ditch Witch

We hooked up the corrugated pipe to the rain gutters and buried it.

Chant hooked up the rain barrel overflow
and the sump pump to the underground pipe.

Go Go Gadget Pipe Arm!

Burying the pipe in Sue's yard.

Sue's house on the left, ours on the right.
We diverted the rain water from 3 of 4 rain gutters from
each house, being carried diagonally down each yard
and in between our houses, to meet at a point where
the rain garden will start.