permaculture

[Marsha Hanzi <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

Interesting to note,  in relation to what Jack says,  that in our
Brazilian "cerrado" which is a tough savannah-type climate, many trees
barely have trunks at all, the bulk of the plant ( even the trunk)
remaining underground...It is sometimes called a "buried forest"...

Marsha

Jack Rowe wrote:
> 
> Many woody plants do almost ALL their work the first season underground...
> especially those with taproots (I'm unfamiliar with Sea Buckthorn). A wild
> persimmon or oak, though, with a 6" top the diameter of a healthy
> matchstick and 6 or 10 leaves, will have a taproot thick as a
> kindergartener's pencil and far deeper than can be casually dug
> successfully.
> 
> Ideally, woody plants get planted directly where they are to live out their
> quietly-exalted lives, especially those in climates with tough
> summers/winters/drought, etc. A season after they've sprouted in the ground
> they are extremely capable and tough, even though wisely remaining mostly
> unseen. Probably they are mostly subterranean, biomass-wise, for life. I've
> considered the lifestyle more than once, myself. I guess counting the
> entire biological cycle, I will also be mostly-subterranean!
> 
> Jack