If it feels like your backyard has turned into a swamp this summer, you’re not alone — but some North Carolinians are finding a silver lining in all this rain. As the skies keep opening up, so do new opportunities to dig into a different kind of gardening. A new national study finds that several cities across the Tar Heel State — from Wilmington to Asheville — are among the best places in the country to build rain gardens, turning runoff into resilience and puddles into pollinator havens.
Lawn Love ranked the top 500 cities in the nation for rain gardens, with 10 of North Carolina’s cities making the list. Wilmington ranked highest at No. 8, and High Point ranked lowest at No. 175.
“Rain gardens are shallow, planted depressions filled with native vegetation that spring to life after a rain,” Kimberly Magerl, study stories editor for Lawn Love, told the Carolina Journal. “By capturing runoff where it falls, rain gardens filter out many pollutants before they reach rivers and streams. For places like Wilmington, North Carolina, ranked 8th, represent a practical opportunity to manage runoff, improve water quality, and support pollinators and other wildlife.”…