Rain’s in the forecast and so what better excuse do I have to post-pone that massive amount of yardwork I would love to be doing to bring you a bit more….Freno!  Matt showed me the video he and Javier, another co-hort from Planning who also sits next to Matt, created showing the features of this product. I’ve embedded the video below, but for those of you more literary types, here’s the deal in print.

To touch on what we covered in the last post, Freno is what we call a segmental wall system, it’s basically a kit of 3 concrete parts that are precast just like building blocks in a variety of arrangements to accommodate any site’s installation …

In honor of the impending Earth Day, and to celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month, let’s talk rain gardens!  I’ll pause for oohs and aahs.

Here in the Planning Group we’re always trying to come up with an ideal way to deal with rainwater on-site rather than piping it.  We’ve tried infiltration fields, bioswales, rain gardens, etc etc.  These all work when you have plenty of space, permeable surface, and the option to alter topography on sites.  This, as you can imagine, gets a bit difficult when you’re in the middle of a city…in the middle of a street…

Urban rain …

They may not look like what you would first imagine. 

They may not look like anything TV makes them out to be. 

But they are . . .

the St. Louis HOK Biker Gang!
 
  

[It may be necessary to say "the St. Louis HOK Biker Gang!" in your best dramatic theatrical voice over; go ahead, try it again, I'll wait]

[l-r: Seth Teel, Jason Kerensky, Paul Wilhelms, Derek Prior, Brett Kostial, Tim Gaidis]

[l-r: Jon Cohen, JoAnn Brookes, Bruce Brunner, Derek Prior, Seth Teel,
Brett Kostial, Matt Snelling, Jason Kerensky, Tim Gaidis, Mark Rosen,
Paul Wilhelms, Steven Crang,

…