Rain Garden
First-of-a-Kind Demonstration Rain Garden Installed
in Downtown St. Louis
The Downtown St. Louis CID has partnered with the City of St. Louis Department of Streets, HOK, Midwest Products, St. Louis Composting, and Forrest Keeling Nursery on the installation of a NEW demonstration rain garden at the northwest corner of 11th and Pine.
A rain garden is a shallow depression filled with water-loving plants in a prescribed profile of soil, sand, and aggregate. It catches rainwater, stores it for a short time, and filters out pollutants. In recent years, rain gardens have become more common in urban streetscapes, where they are typically contained by concrete enclosures or planters.
Building these relatively low-tech bioretention areas in heavily paved urban landscapes is a sustainable idea that's quickly gaining traction among cities seeking to divert rainwater from overburdened combined sewer systems and to protect waterways from toxic runoff by remediating lead, cadmium, nitrates, and phosphates.
This innovative solution could help catalyze a trend toward more sustainable streetscapes in urban areas, catching rainwater and reducing dependence on manual labor for irrigating streetscape. The 11th Street pilot project employs a new segmental wall and curb system called Freno that offers a cost-effective, modular method of building an urban rain garden.
This project is brought to you by the Downtown CID - positioning downtown as the region’s sustainability leader. For more information, contact Kelly Yeager at kyeager@downtownstl.org or 314-436-6500 x233.