Here's a close up of the tree.

It's a Taxodium.

Could that be a metasequoia? AKA Dawn redwood?

By the character of the branching, I would say the taxodium rather than metasequoia.

Thanks everyone. I'm looking for a tree for my backyard and either of the two mentioned would be two big so this riddle has been solved.

Thanks again!

Did you know both these species have dwarfed cultivers?

As far as differentiating between Taxodium and Metasequioa, when in needle, the needles are oppositely arranged on Metasequioa, alternately so on Taxodium. Which point is neither here nor there for OP.

+oM

The use of a wetlands species, Scirpus, as the underplanting implies this is somewhere in the SE or E USA; the use of a native wetlands species implies this is some kind of "eco-landscaping", which implies that the tree is also native. Hence Taxodium - even if it didn't already look like it, which is does!

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 10:01

Looks kind of like Juncus patens 'Carmen's Gray' to me. This plant is used in landscaping on the West Coast.

Juncus patens 'Carmen's Gray'

Thanks for the correction, on closer inspection it does look more like a rush than bulrush. However, I hope Taxodium isn't being used for city landscaping in California. Seems a little too thirsty. I had speed read through and missed the original poster saying they were Sacramento - oops!

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 16:29

.....not to mention, "nativars" of Scirpus and Juncus are becoming common in regular landscape design.

+oM

Semi-weeping baldcypress? Foliage & other details not right for metasequoia.

Taxodium Distichum-Bald Cypress
It is a very long lived tree and is water tolerant.
grows into a pyramidal shape.
There are a lot of them in Arkansas.

The photo appears to be a shot of a curbside rain garden, of which there are many in Sacramento. The intent is to capture storm water run-off and redirect it into mini bioretention areas to prevent contamination and pollution of streams and waterways. Plants involved, while often natives, just need to be able tolerate prolonged wetness as well as periodic dry spells, which both Juncus and Taxodium are able to do. Taxodium can be very drought tolerant.

Lots of cities, especially those close to wildlife attracting waterways (like Sacramento), are increasing the use of rain gardens in very urban areas to eliminate or at least reduce the run-off from what amounts to acres of impermeable surfaces from actually reaching groundwater and eventually steams and rivers.

Think of them as eco-friendly storm drains ;-))