How about a fun spring project that is attractive, improves water, and is a haven for birds, butterflies, toads, frogs, and other friendly critters? A rain garden does all that and more. It's a place you and the rest of the family can see what's happening daily in the "real" world. It's a garden where it doesn't matter who's eating who.

The real purpose of the rain garden is to hold rain water on your property and let it filter as it soaks down into the soil instead of running above ground to the nearest drainage. You don't have to spend a lot of time or money building it. Any size depression that temporarily holds water works. It can catch water from a down spout, a low spot in the yard, or a parking lot.

To make a rain garden, create a depresion by removing dirt from the center of the area and moving it to the down hill side. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the depression and mix in some compost or other organic material. You can clearly define the border by using stones, retaining walls and other methods to keep the garden visually controlled and neat.

Use the guide in this catalog to select plants for your rain garden. First pick plants according to soil moisture preference, average to moist (aver. - moi.) or just "moist", then select according to light preference and height. Using several species is better for wildlife and weed control than one or two species. Include a shrub, like Buttonbush, that will provide cover, nesting sites, bird seed and nectar.

A rain garden that holds water for only a few days will not have mosquitoes. With a little ingenuity, part of a rain garden can be made to hold water for longer periods, even permanently, and still not have mosquitoes. However you do it, make your first rain garden an easy one, visit it frequently, and enjoy the flurry of activity it will attract.