Santa Cruz City Hall Public Works Courtyard

A roof downspout was diverted into a rain garden, planted with Acorus gramineus "Golden Edge", a sedge that can tolerate periods of inundation.

480 square feet of roof collection surface diverts 540 gallons of rainwater to the rain garden during an average 2" storm.

After the rain garden is graded, cardboard layer is placed to block weeds. 3" of Vision Recycling's Organic Soil Amendment was used in the rain garden. 4" of Natural Wood Chip mulch was used elsewhere in the landscape.

B-flute cardboard layer is stapled down and overlapped 8". A minimum of 4" of wood chip mulch goes on top.

Plant selection includes Cornus stolonifera (Hedgerows Gold Dogwood), Mimulus cardinalis ('Ruby Slippers' Monkey Flower), Iris douglasia (Pacific Coast Iris), Achillia filipendulina, and Aquiegia formosa nana

Lawn before rennovation. The downspout was formerly directed to the City storm drain system, which experiences nuisance flooding downstream of City Hall.

Lawn before renovation

8 months after installation - East lawn area matches design theme of west lawn

8 months after installation the landscape is filling in

8 months after installation - View of downspout disconnection into rain garden.