Last month, All Shades was proud to hold a series of stormwater workshops in our space: "Slow It, Spread It, Sink It," put on by the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce, the City of Los Angeles, and Materials and Applications.
This month, we want to show the results. With the expertise of
Jenna Didier,
Freya Bardell, and
Glen Drake, our parking lot that we share with the nail salon next door was transformed.
It now has a perimeter of real, live dirt with growing things in it including a fig tree, loquat tree, delectable pineapple sage, and a number of other food-bearing and/or native plants.
Not only will these plants beautify the space and provide fruits to share with the community, but now a portion of the rainwater that falls will be slowed, spread, and sunk into the ground versus running off the asphalt into catch basins and out to sea. The systems in place (like the "gravel burrito") will even clean some of the oil and debris from water that flows to the dirt from the parking lot before it goes down deep below the surface.
And, the biggest new addition you'll notice is our new rain barrel, a giant that will collect rainwater for us to use to water the plants--pretty smart and simple.
We're honored to have had the tremendous help we did from our experts and other attendees in pulling off this project and hope that it will inspire other business owners to do their own creative projects for community-building, stormwater catchment, and property improvement that benefit everybody while assisting our patch of earth in Los Angeles.
If you'd like help being directed to the folks who can help you do it, visit links of their names above or call the store and have Natalie point you in the right direction. (323) 664- 7454.
