The Smart Garden is an outdoor learning library for community to gain hands-on environmental education with water conservation models.

 

Site

Mill Valley Public Library

Completed

April 2015

Team Highlights

Sentient Landscaping
California Native Plant Society

Achieving an Innovative Library Grant awarded by the US Government, we were able to design and implement an outdoor learning library full of stormwater strategies and a curation of native plants. This has become a backdrop of community connection and diverse offerings Mill Valley locals and visitors alike enjoy. This Smart Garden was noted as contributing to the Mill Valley Public Library earning a Best Library in America award in 2016.

 

Accomplished:

1.

A hardworking landscape that diverts 100,000 gallons (in a 30” rain year) away from streams and street drains into a 3,500 gallon rain garden, allowing stormwater runoff to filter through soil and safely rejoin the watershed through groundwater channels.

2.

An outdoor learning lab for community members to gain environmental education through hands-on programs, lectures, self-guided tours, and more!

3.

Connecting community with water-conscious strategies that promote watershed resilience, pollinator health, and native plant diversity.