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WEG clients Yi and his wife, DeeDee, had always dreamed of having a garden at their quaint Northern California home. After years of dealing with a temperamental and water inefficient lawn, Yi found out about Valley Water’s rebate program through a friend. Upon perusing the Valley Water website, Yi and DeeDee began researching the ins and outs of rain gardens and sheet mulching. They came to an exciting conclusion; if someone could design their rain garden, they could install it themselves. Yi and DeeDee have always been self-starters and taking on this project was more than realistic for them. After checking out WEG’s portfolio, and taking our garden style quiz, Yi felt WEG matched their needs and wants, and so they contacted our landscape professionals! Following a successful design process (and with the guidance of WEG), Yi and DeeDee began installing their very own rain garden!

Step 1: WEG outlined the rain garden for Yi, which had to be the correct size to properly absorb all the rainwater that falls on their roof.

Step 2: Yi began excavating the rain garden and river to the roof's downspout.

Step 3: Yi overcame the challenge of connecting the downspout to the dry river by tunnelling underneath their walkway (above). Yi avoided the need to rebuild their walkway, and the results are sleek and impressive (below).

Step 4: Once the downspout was connected to the rain garden, Yi did all the sheet mulching by layering compost on top of free cardboard Yi. obtained from local businesses. Afterwards, he covered everything with wood mulch and laid out the rain garden with small pebbles

Step 5: WEG guided Yi by placing the plants based on the design.

Final Step: Yi planted all the plants and installed drip irrigation.

Shortly after the project finished, the state of California began to experience record breaking rainfall; an arduous first trial for Yi’s newly installed rain garden. So how did their new rain garden the heavy storms at the end of 2022? The garden mitigated the heavy rains exceptionally well, with no incidents of pooling!

Yi proved that installing their WEG designed rain garden is a realistic and achievable goal, especially with assistance from our landscape professionals. With no prior landscaping experience, Yi and DeeDee demonstrated that through perseverance, some concentrated curiosity, and a willingness to get down in the dirt, you can save big on installation costs. Water Efficient Garden’s fully supports the DIY route for our designs if you have the right mindset, and we are more than happy to offer clients comprehensive guidance through a “Designed by WEG, Installed DIY” approach. By sharing this story, WEG hopes to instill a sense of inspiration in future clients and hope Yi and DeeDee’s journey alleviates common concerns and misconceptions about DIY installation.

Looking to make the first leap towards a water efficient garden? Take the garden style quiz to find out what garden style best suites you! For more information on starting the design process with WEG, click on "Start a Project" on the home page (waterefficientgardens.com)