Application of Rain Gardens to an Urban Area – Housing Estate in Nitra, Slovakia

This study is focused on principles of rain gardens in landscape architecture and their application in Slovak conditions. Rain gardens can be seen as a part of sustainable design and application of ecological principles in changing natural conditions. The simplicity of a rain garden represents combination of rainwater management and flower planting, which is a strong landscaping element because of the connection between ecology and aesthetics. Plants used in rain gardens help to keep water by the root system and, after that, to transpire it. Another importance of this kind of arrangement is its simplicity and positive impact on creation of a new bio-retentive ecosystem, which is able to safely collect, absorb, filtrate and carry off rain water from paved areas. Many foreign countries have understood their importance and have already implemented them in new projects of public and private spaces. This paper also describes a theoretical planting proposal of a rain garden in a housing estate in the city of Nitra to demonstrate a real application of this technique in Slovak conditions.