Kai Nani Place Ocean Friendly Rain Garden, Oahu, Hawaii

Description

This rain garden/Ocean Friendly Garden (OFG) was built in partnership with Surfrider Foundation, Oahu Chapter and Hui o Koolaupoko (a non-profit watershed management group on the windward side of Oahu). HOK provided grant funding for materials to build the OFG. Surfrider volunteers attended a pre-build class to learn about the planning and design process of building an OFG. Surfrider volunteers came out on a Saturday morning to install the OFG.

This OFG captures rain water from roughly 900 square feet of roof that flow into rain gutters and down a downspout in front of the house. This project is more of a demonstration project because originally the water from the roof was being directed into a planter that over flowed into the grass (there are no storm drains on this street). It was meant to show people how to build an OFG and get others interested in OFGs. The OFG is roughly 60 square feet and planted with all native plants.

- We dug and leveled the basin;
- Installed edging and weed mat along the perimeter to keep out the grass and weeds; - Formed the berms;
- Built the inlets and outlets with coral pieces we found during digging;
- Spread compost around the entire garden;
- Then planted and finished with a 3 inch layer of compost.

It took about 5 hours total: this included fixing a broken sprinkler line that was accidentally ruptured by a pick ax.

Overall, the homeowner is happy with the new addition to their lawn and have told others about the OFG - who are also interested in installing one in their homes!