Rain Gardens And Other Grok Ideas To Mitigate Flooding

During the 2024 hurricane season I found out real fast.  What did I find out? I found out how porous my home was. Yes, I brought before last year's season began so I had no expectations of what to look out for.

I did learn that my little house required basically a nice wall of sandbags to keep water out of the rear sliding doors. That was my main water intrusion site. I'm prepared now for 2025. 

I did some more digging and came across a new potential project I intend on putting into completion. And that is to put in a rain garden. Below, I asked GROK about this and read more to find out where I should begin.

GROK BEGINS:

Hey there! One easy way to prevent flooding is to regrade your land so water flows away from your house—slope it about one inch per four feet. You could also install French drains or rain gardens to soak up excess water, and those are pretty straightforward to set up with some planning.

Sure, setting up a rain garden is simple! Choose a spot that’s lower than your roof’s runoff areas, dig a shallow basin about six inches deep, and fill it with native plants that love moisture. Add some mulch to help with drainage, and you’re good to go—it’s like creating a little wetland that’ll soak up water naturally.

For rain gardens, try plants like switchgrass, cardinal flower, and swamp milkweed—they love water and help soak it up. Daylilies and blue flag irises are great too, since they’re tough and thrive in wet soil.