Garden talk: rain gardens

Also from the bay friendly garden tour this weekend, there was a talk on rain gardens from a landscape designer who's projects include public works projects. Here are my notes/learnings from that talk:

Im still waiting for a copy of the handout that was distributed at the talk, to get the exact calculation, but I learned that there is a calculation for how much roof area you have which includes a percentage of rain (CA only gets 4-6%).

You can not have a rain garden within 3' of a public sidewalk or 10' of a foundation. As the water will erode the base rock that supports these structures.

If you have clay which most of us in CA have, you'll need to make sure that your soil is permeable enough water that stands should not last more than 72 hours at the most

Should not do a water garden on more than a 3% slope ( you should check with a professional if its more than that do make sure you're not putting yourself at risk for landslides ).

Plants need to be very flexible- ok with their feet wet, and with drought.

Rushes
Sedges
Sages
Blue grey times are more drought tolerant than greens
Fringe cups
Red monkey flower

Be careful of CA fuchsia & carrot species they can take over and be one invasive.