Of course, hindsight is always crystal clear, isn't it?
Rain gardens definitely sound like a win-win—saving money and adding curb appeal. I'm curious though, how tricky is it to set one up yourself? Any tips for a DIYer on a tight budget who isn't exactly a landscaping pro...?
We put one in ourselves a couple years back, honestly wasn't too bad. I mean, we're definitely not landscaping pros either—my partner still jokes about how many YouTube videos we watched beforehand. The toughest part for us was figuring out drainage and making sure we picked plants that could handle occasional flooding. Ended up swapping some free cuttings with neighbors, saved a bunch. Just don't underestimate the digging part... my back still remembers that weekend.
"Just don't underestimate the digging part... my back still remembers that weekend."
Haha, I feel this so much. We tackled a similar project last spring, and honestly, the digging was brutal. Thought we'd knock it out in a day or two—ended up taking almost a week because of unexpected roots and rocks. Drainage was tricky for us too; we ended up building a small rain garden area to help manage runoff. Surprisingly, that turned out to be one of the best parts of the yard now, and it didn't cost much since we also swapped plants with neighbors and family. Definitely second your advice about plant selection—our first round of plants didn't survive the first big storm, so we learned that lesson the hard way. Glad to hear yours worked out well!
"Drainage was tricky for us too; we ended up building a small rain garden area to help manage runoff."
That's interesting... did you find the rain garden was enough by itself, or did you still need extra drainage solutions? We tried something similar, but honestly, it didn't fully solve our flooding issues. Ended up installing a French drain later on—bit more expensive and labor-intensive, but it finally did the trick. Glad your plants eventually worked out though; ours were surprisingly resilient from day one. Guess we lucked out there.
We had a similar experience—rain garden helped, but wasn't enough on its own. Eventually added permeable paving around the patio area, and that combo finally got things under control. French drains crossed our minds too, but the paving seemed less disruptive overall. Plants held up surprisingly well through it all... guess they're tougher than we give them credit for.
