San Rafael: Rain Garden Design and Loop Beautification

1. Dixie Elementary School
“Rain Garden Design and Loop Beautification”
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Dixie School District
Dixie Home & School Club
Dixie School Beautification Committee
April Philips Design Works
San Rafael, CA
November 9, 2007
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2. © APDW
Curb your Carbon NOT!
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3. © APDW
Bike, Walk, Run, Ride the Bus, Carpool,
Move your body…
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4. © APDW
Play outside
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Recycle
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6. © APDW
Plant a Tree
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Grow a food garden
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Conserve water © APDW

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10. Pollution- Yuck! Pollution- Yuck!
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11. © APDW
Why are “Rain Gardens” important?
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12. A Rain Garden is good
for the environment
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13. Typical Rain Garden Storage and Infiltration
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What is a “Rain Garden” and how does it work”
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14. An outdoor
class room
Collect, clean and
infiltrate rain water
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Improve the beauty
of the entry
Provide habitat
Project Goals
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The Dixie Rain Garden will be a place of beauty
and a place to learn about nature ! © APDW

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Rain Garden Design – a cloud’s eye view
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17. © APDW
Rain Garden Design – a birds eye view
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18. Soil includes organic nutrients
and compost for healthy plants
and addition of sand and
gypsum to our clayey soils in
Lucas Valley helps drainage
Mulch controls weeds
©and conserves water
APDW
Cutting the curb in certain
areas helps rain water flow
into rain garden so that we
conserve water naturally and
our rain garden will thrive © APDW

19. Transition Zone (Upland)
1. Achillea millefolium – Common Yarrow (native)
All plant selections for the 2. Eriogonum fasciculatum – California buckwheat (native)
“Transition Zone” or upland areas 3. Muhlenbergia rigens and M. capilaris – Purple Deer Grass (native)
are extremely drought tolerant and 4. Festuca mairei – Atlas Fescue
native to California’s Bay Area. 5. Erigeron glaucus – Beach Aster (native)
6. Zauschneria callifornica latifolia – California Fuchsia (native)
7. Romneya coulteri – Matilija Poppy (native)
8. Salvia leucophylla – Purple Sedge (native)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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Rain Garden Zone (Lowland)
All plant selections for the “Rain
Garden Zone” or lowland areas are 9. Mimulus aurantiacus – Sticky monkey flower (native)
suited for both wet and dry periods. 10. Penstemon heterophyllus – Beard Tongue (native)
Certain plants in this category require 11. Rudbeckia californica – California coneflower (native)
slightly more water than others and 12. Vaccinium ovatum – Evergreen huckleberry (native)
will be placed at the lowest point in 13. Carex barbarea – Santa Barbara Sedge (native)
the garden.
14. Chondropetalum tectorum – Small Cape Rush
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
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20. The Steps:
1. Let’s begin (Identify project participants)
2. Establish goals and objectives
3. Gather information (Walk the site, collect online resources, etc.)
4. Pick a location and establish an appropriate size
5. Designing
6. Plant selection
7. Design review and obtaining permission.
8. Preliminary plans for construction day © APDW
9. Construction schedule
10. Advertise (Spread the word, develop a website!)
11. Develop Timeline (Arrange for material delivery, schedule volunteers)
12. Construction Day (Time to build the rain garden)
13. Maintenance (A routine schedule of care will ensure a healthy new environment)
14. Write summary report (Write a final report for online publication or local newspapers)
How do we do it?
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21. © APDW
Who? - Dixie Community Volunteers!
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Other Rain Gardens
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23. © APDW
Time to plant !
On Nov. 17, 2007 – the preliminary
construction will be done
Tentative plant weekends will be in
December 2007 and/or January 2008 to
take advantage of the rainy season
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