This free rain garden planner gives you a rain garden sized from your roof area and rainfall. Enter a few simple details about your garden, and the tool works out a clear plan you can follow straight away, without any sign-up or special knowledge.
To use the tool, start with the size of your garden or the number of beds you have. Real numbers give real plans: a plan for a tiny balcony bed is very different from a plan for a large backyard plot, even when both gardens grow the same crops.
Next, answer the questions about your garden conditions, such as sun, rainfall, frost, or bed size. These details are what turn a generic list into a plan for your garden. Two gardens in the same town can need different plans, because one sits behind a warm wall and the other sits in a windy, shady corner.
Read the results slowly and write down the first three jobs. A plan only helps if it leaves the screen and reaches the garden. A short list on the fridge or by the back door beats a long printout filed away and forgotten.
Work through the plan one job at a time, in the order given. Garden plans work best when jobs happen in sequence: prepare the soil before you sow, sow before you feed, and harvest before crops go over. Skipping ahead usually creates extra work later.
Repeat the plan on a regular rhythm. Gardens change every week as plants grow, seasons shift, and weather turns. Re-running the tool with fresh numbers each month, or each season, keeps the plan honest and matched to what is actually happening outside.
A rain garden is a shallow dip, not a pond. It should drain within a day or two after rain, so it holds runoff just long enough for the soil and plants to filter it, without breeding mosquitoes.
Size the dip from your roof, not from guesswork. A large roof in a heavy storm sends far more water than a small shed roof, and a dip sized for the wrong roof either overflows or wastes good garden space. Enter your real roof area and a typical heavy rainfall figure for your area, and the tool does the rest.
Test drainage before you dig. Dig a small hole, fill it with water, and time how fast it drains. Slow clay soil needs a wider, shallower dip, while free-draining sandy soil can take a deeper one. Plants that like wet feet in the middle and drier plants on the edges cope with the changing water levels.
A common mistake is planning only for spring. Spring is exciting, but summer watering, autumn clearing, and winter protection matter just as much. A year-round plan, even a simple one, keeps the garden productive in every season instead of only in the first warm weeks.
Check your plan against what you see outside before you buy materials. Measure the bed again, look at the sun at different times of day, and feel the soil after rain. A quick check on the ground catches the small errors that a screen cannot see, and it saves money on cloth, timber, or plastic bought in the wrong size.
Keep notes as you go. Write down what you planted, when it went in, and how it did. Next year, those notes turn a good plan into a great one, because you will know which crops loved your soil and which ones struggled in your shade or wind.
Remember that this tool gives general garden guidance, not advice for a farm or a commercial crop. Your local soil, weather, and varieties all shift real results. Use the plan as a strong starting point, watch your plants, and adjust over a few weeks until the routine fits your garden.
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