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  • From: Tommy Tolson <healinghawk@earthlink.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Looking for good examples of the use of berms and swales &...
  • Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 11:33:39 -0500

The object of swales is to hold water on the land as long as possible to allow as much to sink in as will. Observe the land to see how the water runs off it, then swale in opposition to that flow. If you swale on level, water sits in the swales until it soaks in or evaporates. Frogs love these waterholes. If you have to, keep them full enough to allow the tadpoles to mature as frogs are a sentinel species and if you have them, you're doing something right. Berms of the soil brought out of the swales thus stay moist longer. Properly mulched, they never dry out. The secret is to keep the berms covered with a thick layer of mulch. Avoid sun contact with the soil, on berms or not, except where there is enough water to form permanent mud. Plant annuals in the decomposing layer of mulch, not in the berm soil proper. Trees and berries with their more extensive root systems need to be planted in the berm. Shape the berm so the tree or berry sits in a basin that holds water instead of letting it run off. If annuals need support they can be staked or caged. Kept moist, clay/adobe berms need no amendments. Calcium will help to break up the clay if you want to amend, but you're faced with bringing in something from off-site. Shell flour works, and comes in 50-pound bags. Broadcast it on the berm before initial mulching. That's all we did, and I could stick my hands into the soil of adobe berms up past my wrists in the height of the dry season.
Tommy Tolson
Austin, TX




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