# Rain Garden

> Guide to designing, installing, and maintaining rain gardens for stormwater management. (iPhone/iPad app by University of Connecticut.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rain-garden/id588712983 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [University of Connecticut](https://appshunter.io/developer/552022925)
- Category: Education, Lifestyle
- Price: Free
- Rating: 2.10/5 from 17 App Store ratings · 16 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 11.0 · 12 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2013-01-03
- Data updated: 2026-07-04
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rain-garden/id588712983/reviews.md

## What is Rain Garden?

Rain gardens are depressions in the ground that collect rainwater from roofs, driveways, parking areas, or other hard surfaces, reducing the amount of polluted runoff entering local waterways. The University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research developed this App as a resource for homeowners, landscapers, contractors, and others. 

The App will guide you through the process of designing, installing, and maintaining a rain garden.  
The App includes basic information about what rain gardens are and how they work; guidance on how to design and install them properly; and tips on maintaining your garden. The app includes several short video tutorials to help users with each step of the process.

Through the App’s Plant Selector tool users can select native, noninvasive plants and their cultivars that are known to work well in rain gardens.  Plants can be selected based on plant type, sun exposure, and bloom color. 

There are also tools for determining rain garden size based on the size of the area draining to it, a soil drainage map to help determine if a rain garden makes sense in a particular area, and a simple cost calculator to gauge cost.

Users can also store information in the App about the Rain Gardens they have installed and set maintenance reminders for multiple gardens. 

It is currently geared primarily toward users in CT, so the plant catalog and mapping tools are specific to that area.  However, the general information and tips are applicable anywhere. We hope to have a nationally applicable version available soon.

The Center for Land Use Education and Research is a partnership between the Departments of Extension and Natural Resources and Environment in UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Connecticut Sea Grant Program.

## Key features

- Rain garden design and installation guidance
- Video tutorials for each step
- Native plant selector tool
- Rain garden size calculator
- Soil drainage map
- Cost estimation tool
- Maintenance reminders

## Recent user reviews (10 of 16)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rain-garden/id588712983/reviews.md

### 1/5 — App needs developer update

*2025-05-27, version 4.0.1*

The maps don’t load and videos don’t play. The information is available, but it is not more valuable than a blog. I would like to use the maps to help verify that the spot I identified for a rain garden is good. If the app functioned as intended, I expected to use map data and calculations to determine size, depth, and amendments before I start planting.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t Function

*2024-02-29, version 4.0.1*

Can’t select plants, doesn’t load states and doesn’t show gallery. iOS 17.3.1

### 1/5 — Remove from App Store

*2023-06-08, version 4.0.1*

Last updated 5 years ago. If this app is not going to be updated I would recommend removing from The App Store.

### 2/5 — Lacking

*2023-04-14, version 4.0.1*

Maybe ok if you aren’t a gardener. But it won’t let me add plants that are not in its database which does not include all the plants on the list for bio retention (rain gardens etc) in Virginia. I thought it would help me track which plants I have in which rain garden to find out which do better. Disappointed.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t work

*2023-01-27, version 4.0.1*

Have been trying to use this for several days, hoping it would work. The only thing that works is informational bits to read. The tools will not work. You get an error message that it failed and cannot connect to server. I tried going to app support but it seems their website is outdated and giving similar error messages.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t function

*2022-05-02, version 4.0.1*

The mapping functions don’t work and it freezes and crashes all the time. 

This hasn’t been tended to in four years and it needs a lot of work.

What does function (in between freezes and crashes) is the static info, but I can get that on a webpage.

### 1/5 — Poor App Performance

*2022-04-26, version 4.0.1*

Crashes constantly

### 1/5 — Does it work?

*2022-04-14, version 4.0.1*

I only just recently learned about rain gardens and have been struggling for information. I found this app and nothing works. Is it inactive? Did the sever host delete it? It says it should work on my iphone.

### 1/5 — App doesn’t work anymore

*2022-04-11, version 4.0.1*

To bad this is still out there. It doesn’t work anymore. It was the only one that came up. Please pull it from the app store if it’s not going to be updated.

### 1/5 — Crashed when I was looking for plants by State location. Live in  Colorado.

*2018-08-07, version 4.0.1*

Needs some kind of serious update. Crashed twice soon as I had installed it. Looks to have great potential if the fatal flaw of crashing was fixed. I have deleted this app. Hope you fix soon. Rain Gardens are needed badly for water management

## Frequently asked questions about Rain Garden

### What is Rain Garden?

Rain Garden is an educational app designed to guide users through the process of creating and maintaining rain gardens. It offers information on what rain gardens are, how they function, and practical steps for their design and installation.

### How does Rain Garden help with stormwater runoff?

Rain Garden educates users on how to build rain gardens, which are depressions designed to collect rainwater from hard surfaces. This process helps reduce polluted runoff entering local waterways.

### What kind of plants can I select with Rain Garden?

The app features a Plant Selector tool that allows users to choose native, noninvasive plants suitable for rain gardens. You can filter by plant type, sun exposure, and bloom color.

### Does Rain Garden offer guidance on garden size and cost?

Yes, Rain Garden includes tools for determining the appropriate size of a rain garden based on the draining area. It also provides a simple cost calculator to help estimate expenses.

### Can I track multiple rain gardens with Rain Garden?

Absolutely. Users can store information about the rain gardens they have installed within the app and set up maintenance reminders for each one.

### Is Rain Garden available nationwide?

Currently, the plant catalog and mapping tools are primarily geared towards users in Connecticut. However, the general information and tips provided are applicable anywhere, with a nationally applicable version planned for the future.

### What is the update frequency for Rain Garden?

The app was last updated on January 19, 2018, with the latest version being 4.0.1. While not updated frequently, the core educational content remains relevant for rain garden creation.

### Does Rain Garden have ads?

No, Rain Garden does not contain advertisements. It is a free application developed by the University of Connecticut.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.0.1 — 2018-01-19

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

- App updated to work with iOS11
- New state plant information added
- Bug/UI improvements

### 3.1 — 2015-03-16

- Added keyword search to plants catalog
- Added new plant types (ferns & rush/sedges)
- Expanded information on plant details screen
- Bug fixes

### 3.0 — 2015-02-02

* Updated to allow for different sizing, soils and plant information for different states.
* Plant update function will now update sizing and state information as well. 
* Soils map updated to include more states.
* Future state updates will be added to the app via the plant update function instead of requiring a new version of the app.
* Bug fixes.

### 2.0 — 2013-12-20

- Added plant, soils, and sizing data for NJ, DE, and MD
- Added soils data for RI, VT, NH, and MA
- State specific data adjusts based on users location
- UI improvements
- Improved sizing calculator
- Updated privacy policy
- Miscellaneous bug fixes

### 1.1 — 2013-06-24

* A new sizing map
* Updated videos
* Bug fixes

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-04.*