Hawthorne City Hall - Hawthorne, 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!

- A downspout from the roof directs rain water into retention basins, utilizing rainwater as a first source of irrigation. (The downspout is directed under the concrete walkway to the other side of the garden.
- Building permeability and soil water holding capacity through compost, compost tea and mulch. A section of a concrete walkway cutting through the garden was removed, covered with a grate, and the water piped into the garden.
- Drip irrigation to get the plants established.
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 Municipal Water District and Surfrider Foundation. All the OFGs are designed by G3/Green Gardens Group.
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). Tom Rau was G3's landscape architect on this project.
Watch the news story about the Hands-On Workshop (see the "External Video Link" section).