# What is the difference between bioswale and rain garden?

**URL:** <https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-bioswale-and-rain-garden/2787>\
**Category:** Programming & Analysis\
**Created:** [March 23, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-bioswale-and-rain-garden/2787 "2021-03-23T18:40:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![xurubi](https://blackspectacles.com/uploads/images/22.png) [@xurubi](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/xurubi)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-bioswale-and-rain-garden/2787/1 "2021-03-23T18:40:53Z")

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what is the difference between bioswale and rain garden?  
They look very similar in section and both collect infiltrate and drain.

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**Author:** ![coachdarionziegler](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.blackspectacles.com/coachdarionziegler/32/1272_2.png) [@coachdarionziegler](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/coachdarionziegler)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-bioswale-and-rain-garden/2787/2 "2021-03-29T13:29:00Z")

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Hi @xurubi ,

These are very similar!  
I found this great blog post on a gardening website about the difference:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/blackspectacles/original/1X/61d029d192c86761e7e5f8e0e220b66bef38a1e7.png)  
[Managing Water with Rain Gardens and Bioswales](https://spottsgardens.com/rain-gardens-bioswales-rainscaping/#:~:text=Rain%20Gardens%20versus%20Bioswales&text=The%20main%20difference%20is%20that,water%20to%20a%20rain%20garden).

Here’s another resource from Utah State University with a nice video:  
[https://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/urbanstormwater/green-infrastructure/rain-gardens-and-bioswales](https://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/urbanstormwater/green-infrastructure/rain-gardens-and-bioswales)

And here’s one more resource from the Watershed project with a great bioswale diagram:

> **[Rain Gardens & Bioswales - The Watershed Project](https://thewatershedproject.org/rain-gardens-bioswales/)**
>
> Rain Gardens and Bioswales are examples of green infrastructure and use natural functions to capture and filter stormwater. What is a rain garden? A rain garden is a garden of native plants that is watered by stormwater. A rain garden...

Hope this helps!  
-Darion