City Community Center - Carson, CA

Description

An unused 2,000 square foot patch of turf grass in front the community center, was using 60,000 gallons of (drinking) water every year to keep it alive. Sprinklers generated runoff and the plants were neither climate-appropriate nor native. It was mowed with noisy, gas-powered machines, and green waste was hauled away. It has been turned into an Ocean Friendly Garden (OFG) that achieves multiple benefits - and it's beautiful!

- Contouring directs rain water into retention basins and a French Drain, utilizing rainwater as a first source of irrigation.
- Building permeability and soil water holding capacity through compost, compost tea and mulch. The pavers are also permeable (gaps in between them, and set on a sand base).
- Drip irrigation to get the plants established.

This is one of 11 OFGs being built with a state Proposition 50 grant through the Integrated Regional Water Management program (IRWM). The grant was gotten by West Basin Municipal Water District and Surfrider Foundation.
While the majority of the garden was constructed by Stout Landscape Design/Build, part of it was built by residents through a Hands-On Workshop led by G3/Green Gardens Group. After a classroom talk about CPR and how to apply it, everyone went out side to install plants and irrigation (to a pre-prepped site). John Tikotsky was G3's landscape architect on this project.
This is the 6th of 11 OFGs that will be built on public properties in highly visible locations as part of a State grant awarded to West Basin and Surfrider Foundation. All the OFGs are designed by G3/Green Gardens Group.
Read more here: http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/water-agencies-like-beautiful-functional-ecological-ofg