Union and Catalina BEFORE
The community at Union and Catalina Aves. in Pasadena, CA came out in force to build a Sponge Garden that will soak up rainwater, making a pocket park out of a forgotten corner, and showing neighbors how beautiful landscapes can be when turf is removed. Here’s what it looked like just a few weeks ago.
The site was graded, the artwork installed, and contractors for the City of Pasadena Public Works began the installation of the decomposed granite pathway and rock-lined swale. No soil was removed from the site — it was all used to berm between the pathway, swale and sidewalk, creating a more interesting topography than a boring flat groundplane. The Pasadena Star News ran a small article about the start of the installation. StarNews Raingarden 042012
Finally, volunteers arrived to learn how to plant the garden, and viola! After a whole day of work, the landscape is planted and irrigated. Now we just have to wait to see thing begin to grow.
Pasadena Sponge Garden April 2012
