Lake Township's Sherri Smith installs rain garden to help with flooding - Canton Repository

Lake Township's Sherri Smith installs rain garden to help with flooding

Lake Township woman solves major backyard flooding issue with rain garden
Paige Bennett

- Rain gardens are a type of green infrastructure that helps with flooding.
- Stark County Soil & Water Conservation District in Massillon offers a rain gardening course.

LAKE TWP. ‒ Sherri Smith was ready to sell her house.

Almost immediately after she moved into her new home four years ago, flooding became a major issue in her backyard. Rainfall left a large corner of her yard waterlogged for five to seven days at a time, attracting mosquitoes and creating unpleasant conditions.

"I thought I had a septic problem," the 52-year-old said. "I actually had them come out and clean my line to the house, had my septic tank emptied."

Smith was thinking about putting her new home up for sale when she contacted the Stark County Soil & Water Conservation District in Massillon in 2022. That's when she was introduced to the concept of a rain garden.

A rain garden is built in a depression in the landscape to collect rainwater and allow it to soak into the ground. It also has environmental benefits, including filtering out pollutants to prevent them from entering nearby waterways and providing a habitat for bees and monarch butterflies. It isn't a new concept, but it's one that has become popular in recent years for storm water management.

A year later, Smith has been able to manage flooding on her property.

Why did Sherri Smith install a rain garden?

Rome Marinelli, drainage specialist with the Soil & Water Conservation District, suggested a rain garden might help address the flooding problems on Smith's property.

Marinelli said many property owners use gray infrastructure — pipes, drains or gutters — to manage stormwater. Installing pipes may help a property owner reduce flooding on their land, but it diverts water downstream. That means the water ends up on someone else's property.

"You are allowed to dispose of your water downhill as long as it's following gravity and it's following the natural flow, but pipes can't absorb water," he said, noting that some homeowners who choose to put pipe in roadside ditches in front of their homes wind up with flooding from the roads.

Installing a rain garden typically costs between $3 and $5 per square foot if installed by a property owner and between $10 and $15 per square foot or more if using a landscaper, according to the Three Rivers Rain Garden Alliance. Plants are usually the most expensive item.

Smith had never heard of a rain garden before. She did some research, and after learning about the benefits of rain gardens, decided to install one in her backyard. Smith enjoys gardening, but she knew the project would be a serious undertaking, given the amount of flooding in her backyard. She started looking for a landscaper. It took a long time for her to find one who knew how to build a rain garden.

Eventually, Smith got in touch with Jscapes, a North Canton-based landscaping company that was willing to take on the project. Jscapes owners Jonah and Noah Wakser said they enjoy working on unique projects and spent some time researching before getting started.

Smith's garden is about 40 feet long and has a four-foot deep depression. It took about two weeks to dig and fill the garden, they said.

"With the actual process, it's a little unique because we're bringing in all these different types of materials and then we're mixing them together," Jonah Wakser said. "So we had to use a machine and we had to put sand with compost with gravel and mix it all up real nice and then start filling it in."

Jeana Brandle, a horticulturalist with Jscapes, said plants featured in the garden include bee balm, butterfly weed, winterberry and ornamental grass. These plants do well in wet conditions, she said.

Smith said the rain garden has made a huge difference in her backyard. She occasionally gets flooding after a storm, but the water goes away after one day instead of one week. She enjoys being in the garden, which has brought butterflies, bees and a dragonfly to her property. She spends a couple of hours outside most days, watering and picking weeds.

Jonah Wakser said the first several months of maintenance are the most crucial as that is the time when the roots take.

"After that, maintenance is very important, but it kind of decreases in terms of watering every day and being out there all the time," he said.

Marinelli said he was blown away by the results. He noted that rain gardens both large and small can be impactful in the environments they occupy.

"It's just one of those little things that can go a really long way, from helping the environment to helping a downstream neighbor," he said.

Stark County Soil & Water Conservation District offers rain garden course

The county's Soil & Water Conservation District has a biannual Master Rain Gardener certification course. The weekly class takes place over the course of six weeks in the spring and fall. For $25 per person, anyone learn how to design and build a rain garden.

Registration for the district's next session is closed, but those interested can sign up for a waiting list to be notified when it opens up.

Reach Paige at 330-580-8577, pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.