chinampas/hugelkultur/raised bed Inside Rain Garden/Pocket Pond

Has anyone done this or know of anyone who has?

I have been considering adding a few small rain gardens/pocket ponds on my .36acre lot to attract wildlife and possibly get some ducks. These just seem to make sense in my head on many levels. They would self weed/water, attract toads that eat up to 15k bugs a year each, and accumulate nutrients if placed properly in a natural depression in the yard. However, the only down sides I can see would be having to get muddy to get the food and creating a anaerobic environment around the beds.

Could be a great micro garden spot for the high maintenance/shallow rooted annuals.

My garden gets flooded occasionally so I've started digging paths and raising beds. The paths do fill up, but they drain when it stops raining for a few days. The water ends up in our irrigation pond which is just below the garden.


This is still work in progress, so I don't have real results to share. However, this means that this winter my kale isn't getting drowned.


I also have a hugel terrace that is maybe 2 feet tall now, and I haven't seen any standing water on it.


If not having water in the paths is important, I am sure you could design some accesses that don't get flooded.


Also I wanted to share this video of chinampas in Costa Rica:

I just love everything I have seen from Punta Mona. The original TEDx talk by Stephen Brooks is also really heartening. I highly recommend it.

Sam Boisseau wrote:


If not having water in the paths is important, I am sure you could design some accesses that don't get flooded.

I actually kind of like the thought of having some water filled moats around the garden. My .36 acre yard hosts up to 9 rabbits at a time depending on how long it's been since the last time some hawks have come through the area. lol

Since rabbits eat about 1lb of vegetation a day... you can see my issue. My wife won't let me get rid of them in any way. The kids love chasing them around so the rabbits are increasing their quality of life. So I just planted some deer feed plot seeds around the back yard this last Sept. mixed 50% with different wild flowers. I will try to turn them into an asset. There is definitely rabbit poop about every 3 to 5ft out back under the fruit trees.

The only thing I would not like about the moats would be that my 1yr and 3yr old kids would be in it and covered in mud every single day. I am fine with that but my wife would not. Happy wife Happy life. lol

Hmmm.... maybe some stepping stones would be really cool/pretty/wildlife attractant.