Rain Chains

If the Pacific Northwest is known for rain, then it should also be known for rain chains. The flare for arts and metal sculpture makes Seattle the perfect place to turn drizzle into music. I’ve always loved the lotus-cup rain chains (below) on my aunt & uncle’s post-and-beam cabin in Sequim, Washington.

Sadie relaxes in the shade by the Sequim house.

Rain chain water collects in an anchor bowl.

My house has three downspouts across the front that I’ll replace with rain chains. I purchased four 8’ Ring Rain Chains, three gutter adapters, and three anchoring basins.

Overview of the house, with downspouts on each end and at the center.

I decided to start with the short end of the house. I had always thought the bank of forsythia made the garden look somewhat lopsided, so it was easy to part with the one on the end. (Plus, it looks great at Rosemary’s house! #WillWorkForPlants)

For drainage, I filled the hole first with large rocks, then with pea gravel that I had leftover from the greenhouse installation. Finally, I topped the hole with round decorative beach rocks and an anchor bowl. (Note: I later decided to drill holes in the bottom of the bowl to avoid the mosquito breeding ground.)

Digging out the forsythia.

Big rocks.

Pea gravel for drainage.

Decorative rocks and anchor bowl.

First rain chain done!

Inside the gutter.

Rain chain #2

Water pours easily down the chain in a deluge. (Sorry for the crappy through-the-screen pic… as you can see, it was raining outside!)

I expected a little splashing, and since my deep eaves put the gutters about two feet away from my house, I don’t have to worry too much about damage.

Heavy rain.

Roses & rock river.

Terraced Vegetable Garden

When the screen room came down, the scarred footprint was a nasty mix of litter, construction debris, and sand. First I cleaned the garbage and dug out the top foot of dead soil to roughly outline the steps. 

Next I used local rocks (boulders, technically) to build steps. This is the granite state, after all... and I had lots of neighbors willing to contribute their rock piles. I experimented with shapes... fitting rocks together and carving into the slope. I didn't want a symmetrical staircase... I wanted something a little more natural feeling.

The sand is so loose that I used plywood pieces to hold back the steps... I'll need to find a more permanent solution, but this works for now. I also learned in the first heavy rain that the sand easily poured through the gaps between the rocks, leaving little deltas on the next level down. Learning from my neighbor Michele's garden success, I tore apart what I had already built, dug a ditch behind each rock wall and sunk a double layer of heavy plastic sheeting to keep the soil where I wanted it.

That's as far as I got in the summer of 2016, which is just as well, since I wasn't about to plant new vegetables in August. My boulder-hoisting continued in spring 2017:

Once I got the step the way I wanted it, I filled each bed with manure-rich organic garden soil and started planting. Happy garden!