Mike Baker

The rain gardens capture and store up to 11,200 gallons and are designed to withstand a "100-year rain event" (8.57"/24 hrs), thanks to a 4+"/hr infiltration rate. That was possible because we required manual excavation to minimize soil compaction (the kiss of death for infiltration), so no heavy machinery. Took the entire summer of 2022. This is why the front rain garden is a 9"-deep square, flat-bottomed pit (9"-deep at sidewalk and 20" deep at the front porch due to slope) bisected by a raised wooden boardwalk. All impervious surfaces (driveway, walkways, patio, and garage terrace) direct runoff to the rain gardens. This eliminates water running off from our site into the municipal combined stormwater/sewer system.

Here's our site. All of this is irrigated by a 1,350-gallon rainwater harvesting system under the deck. In addition to the 2,300+ rain garden plants are 12+ fruiting shrubs, which I gather should be storing carbon, too.

I have to imagine that varying root mass/root depth and the density of the plants in each rain garden would be valid inputs.

Hi folks,

Last year, we converted 2,100' sq. of turfgrass into four rain gardens filled with 34 species of native Illinois sedges and forbs for a total of 2,300+ plants. It took three years and was the final part of a three-year LEED Platinum 4.1 remodel. Our site was one of the featured gardens on a tour back in May and someone asked "do you know how much carbon you are storing in the soil?" and I only had "uhhhh, I dunno" as an answer. So I thought there should be a way to figure this out and my initial Googling revealed there are different methods. I'm posting here to see what the community has to say as far as the most accurate way to figure this out -- just so I can get a rough estimate to provide an answer when I am asked again. I figure we _have_ to be storing more now than we were with 100% turfgrass for 20 years, but I don't know how much. Thanks.

I have four 15'-tall hazels (corylus allevana) growing against a wall in Chicago that I planted three years ago with the intention of coppicing them each year but first wanted to grow long, straight poles for projects, so having only cut them once, each is about 3" in diameter with about 4-5"-diam. stools beneath (give/take 1-2" for all measurements). Poles are definitely ready to.cut.

We are remodeling that side of the house this coming November and it's clear the hazels will be impacted by construction.

I know that coppicing them now while Chicago's current weather ensures their continued dormancy is safe, but I'm not sure what that means for November. They "should" be shutting down by then, depending upon temp, but I'm unsure if I should coppice now AND relocate now while all their energy is stored in the root ball/stool or cut now and then wait to relocate until November. The former seems to be the best route.

What do you all think?

Thanks.

Does black locust's rot-resistance diminish after kiln-drying? My complete amateurish guess is that using it while still green (fenceposts, hand-milled lumber for small workshed) would retain its rot-resistance. I also heard that it's so dense, it can be hard on a mill, so hand-milling it might be necessary (plus, I'm guessing working with green using handtools is going to be easier than working with kiln-dried BL with those same handtools).

Am I out in left field here? Thanks!

Thanks much, folks! I did a quick hose test but am still not 100% if I have this correct. North green/black gutter, SE corners of upper story orange/black and lower story yellow/blue, and the west green/orange are approximate guesses, even after a hose test... I simply couldn't determine for absolutely certain if the corners are the actual boundaries or if the pitch wraps around. Even if I am off a bit, from the looks of it, most of the total water is flowing to the SW and N of the property (orange, blue, and green downspouts) while a smaller amount flows into the backyard, which is where I wanted to harvest the water for beds, trees, vegetables, etc.

The green, black, and yellow downspouts all connect with buried PVC (indicated by the red dotted line)... the green downspout's PVC pipe is pitched to carry water all the way around the NE corner of the house where it turns south and connects with the black downspout and yellow downspout, all of which terminate in a single pop-up in the middle of the back yard. The colored arrows pointing away from the house indicate where I've disconnected the downspouts from their buried PVC and use plain old diverters... I had two ice dams several years ago (black and blue downspouts) that cracked open the PVC above the freeze line, which made me not trust what the plumbers (!) installed underground. So, as far as a rainwater harvesting plan, there is some existing infrastructure that I'm hoping could be used once I make the necessary repairs.

Presuming my map is more accurate than not, I'm wondering what my options might be for:

1) the orange downspout that currently empties via a garish flexible plastic downspout directly onto my driveway. I considered re-connecting it to the buried PVC and then building a rain garden in the front, but there is a massive black locust in the middle of the front which has roots all over the yard, which my guess would make a rain garden a challenge to implement. Another option might be to use the water to keep the full sun plants that face south and don't benefit from the shade of the locust nice and hydrated.
2) the blue downspout (once repaired and re-connected) that pops up about one 1/4 of the length of the driveway "sun" garden (as I call it, as this is a full sun bed). Water certainly benefitted the area closest to the pop-up when it was in active use, but I'm not sure how to use all that water along the entire length of the bed.
3) the green/black/yellow downspouts, which, if fully repaired and pitched properly, could empty into a back yard rain garden or swale system

Well, that's a lot to digest! Thanks again all!

I know one can calculate the entire runoff from a roof, but I want to know how much per gutter/downspout, so my assumption is that I need to perform separate calcs for different parts of the roof to determine how much flows "this" way and how much flows "that" way... am I in the ballpark?