The design of a rain garden allows for several different planting zones.
{| class="wikitable"
! Hydric Zone Criteria !!
|-
! Low Zone
| Often referred to as the extended detention or shoreline fringe area. This area is frequently inundated during storm events, and is well-drained between rainfall events.
|-
! Mid Zone
| Often referred to as the floodfringe area. This zone is inundated less frequently (2 – 100 year storm events) and has periodically high levels of moisture in the soil. The ecology of this zone is a transition from the Mineral Meadow Marsh/Beach-type community to an upland community.
|-
! High Zone
| Often referred to as upland area. The ecology of this zone is terrestrial due to its elevation in relation to the filter bed. The zone most closely resembles a Cultural Meadow or a Cultural Thicket community, depending on the mix of grasses, herbaceous material, shrubs and trees utilized.