Rain garden

A rain garden is a deliberate low spot, planted and shaped to collect the water that sheets off a roof, driveway, or patio during a storm and hold it while it soaks in instead of running to the street.

It sits downslope of a downspout or a paved area, usually a shallow scooped basin with amended soil that drains within a day or so. The plants in it have to tolerate a swing most ornamentals hate: wet feet after rain, then dry between storms. Native sedges, rushes, and tough perennials are the usual answer.

It is the rare drainage fix that looks like a garden rather than a pipe. Done right it cuts the load on storm drains, filters runoff before it leaves your property, and turns a problem corner into the best-looking bed in the yard.