Dixie School Rain Garden

Education and Application of the Compost Tea

2008-06-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

Jake from Cagwin and Dorward introduced the idea of compost and the application of compost tea to the 3rd grade students. Afterwards, they jointly applied a serving of compost tea to the Dixie Loop. Thanks to the students, teachers and Jake.

The Loop before the Compost Tea application

2008-06-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

The plants are blooming and providing habitat to wildlife such as bees, humming birds and other beneficial animals including those in the soil.

The Dixie Loop is growing happily

2008-05-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

The plants at the Dixie Elementary School Loop are growing without any additional watering. By planting mostly California native plants, the need for a lot of additional care is eliminated.

Easter Sunday

2008-03-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

The daffodils are blooming at the loop to welcome spring.

Our Oak Tree is Getting Bigger

2008-03-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Planting the Oak Trees

2008-02-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

On the Novemeber 9th Volunteer Planting weekend, many of the kids asked "where is the tree?" since they had learned that trees help fight Global Warming. As a result, on February 20, 2008, our Coast Live Oaks arrived and we planted one 15 gallon tree and one supercell tree in the loop to study how they will respond.

4" RAIN EVENT

2008-01-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

From January 26-January 28, 2008, a 48 hour rain event brought 4 inches of rain water. The water was held in the basin and infiltrated approximately at 1/4 inch an hour. By Monday, January 28, the water had infiltrated into the cistern below the loop.

COMMUNITY PLANTING WEEKEND

2007-12-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Within about 6 hours, many volunteers, both children and parents, helped plant 900 plants and spread bark among the new plants. Next day, clean up and final touches finished this successful weekend.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WEEKEND #2

2007-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

The following weekend, the drain rock was covered and the ground was shaped to allow for the planting area to surround the path. The path leads to the lowpoint of the loop.
The beginning of the path was paved with donated and recycled pavers. Compost was applied and boulders were placed.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WEEKEND #1

2007-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

On November 9th, 2007, April Philips gave a presentation to the whole school at 8:30am Assembly to kick off the awareness of beginning construction weekends of the rain garden. The rain garden presentation tied into the "curb your carbon" program.
On November 17, 2007, ground-breaking of the raingarden occured with help from Tad Jacobs and Marin Treemasters. The ground was tilled and shaped to break up clay and till in the top layer of bark to aerate the soil. The general shape of the path and the area for the natural drain rock cistern was dug and formed. Nothing was hauled off site.

Dixie Loop Before Change

2007-11-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

This is what the loop at Dixie Elementary looked like just before the transformation started.

Dixie Plant List

2007-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

The Plant List for the raingarden is 90% California natives. We will study how the plants flourish and expect to change out a few plants in the first year if they do not adapt to the conditions.

Dixie School Poster

2007-10-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

The raingarden presentation to the school assembly was tied into Dixie's "Curb your Carbon" program to kick off the anticipation of the volunteer planting weekend.

Rain Garden Features

2007-10-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

The features of the Dixie raingarden include:

- a shallow basin with gentle side slopes (usually four to eight inches deep);

- soil that allows infiltration;

- moisture-tolerant plants with deep roots to trap sediment.

- organic compost as soil amendments to improve soil health

- 3" vineyard mulch on top to retain moisture and protect plants

- 8" local drain rock below 3/4 of central area to function as a natural cistern

- 100% local, recycled or natural materials

- 100% zero waste

- pesticide free

- irrigation free

A Sustainable Approach

2007-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Up to 70 percent of harmful pollutants are introduced by storm water runoff: unfiltered water that reaches waterways by flowing across impervious surfaces: roads, parking lots, driveways, and roofs. Runoff deposits pollutants – via storm drains and sewers into our lakes and streams. Lawn clippings and leaves are also washed into our waterways, reducing oxygen levels and ultimately suffocating fish and other aquatic species. Water that comes off an asphalt roof onto an oil-stained driveway will flow across an over-fertilized lawn straight into creeks, rivers, and lakes.Rain gardens do the opposite. By integrating stormwater into building and site development, raingardens can avoid or mitigate the damaging effects of urbanization to rivers and streams, preventing Global Warming. By keeping stormwater close to where it falls, rain gardens reduce flooding and settle out sediments. They not only prevent stormwater from becoming contaminated, they actually remove pollutants from the water as it percolates through the soil on its way to becoming groundwater.

Environmental Benefits of Landscaping with a Raingarden

2007-10-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Water quality protection. Proper landscaping reduces nitrate leaching from the soil into the water supply and reduces surface water runoff, keeping phosphorus, and other pollutants out of our waterways.
Reduced soil erosion. A dense cover of plants and mulch holds soil in place, keeping sediment out of lakes, streams, storm drains and roads.
Improved air quality. Trees, shrubs, and turf remove smoke, dust and other pollutants from the air. One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, equaling 11,000 miles of car emissions.
Lower summer air temperatures. Trees shading homes can reduce attic temperatures as much as 40 degrees. According to the EPA, urban forests reduce urban air temperatures significantly by shading heat sinks such as buildings and concrete, and returning humidity to the air through evaporative cooling.
Natural resource conservation. By using trees to modify temperatures, the amount of fossil fuels used for cooling and heating is reduced. Properly placed shade trees reduce house temperatures in the summer, allowing air conditioning units to run 2 to 4 percent more efficiently, but allowing the sun to warm the house in the winter.