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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] swales in Santa Barbara

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  • From: lbsaltzman@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] swales in Santa Barbara
  • Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:28:12 -0400


Living in Santa Barbara, I agree with these suggestions. In our Forest Garden
at our house we have one swale filled with leaves and debris.? I would
definitely do that. We also have a few smaller micro-swales around beds in
the garden. We have basin planted many trees and other perennials, and we
have constructed some terraces with berms at the end on a gentle slope. And
obviously we mulch heavily, and also use sedum?as?a living mulch in many
places.?We have?over a hundred fruit trees on a 1/3 acre site.? Once the
deciduous trees reach about 3-5 years old they are withdrawn from irrigation
water and make it on the winter rains exclusively.? Citrus trees and a
few?tropicals need some summer?irrigation which we are trying to handle more
and more with gray water.



Early on we didn't build swales aggressively enough because we didn't know
what we were doing.? But now I am also reluctant to damage tree roots by
retrofitting big swales.? Berms are another possibility to sort of simulate
swales in the low area next to the berm. That way you don't damage tree roots.



Larry Saltzman


-----Original Message-----
From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Wed, Sep 9, 2009 11:58 am
Subject: [permaculture] swales in Santa Barbara




Art Ludwig of Oasis Design has done some swale work in your area and claims
they
cut down his irrigation season by three weeks to a month and a half (I can't
remember, look at www.oasisdesign.net).? So, in our climate, they can help,
but
they are not a panacea.? You can put in swales after the trees have been
planted, as you described, but be careful of removing too many of the trees'
roots.? It is probably more effective to fill the swales with compost or
other
organic matter to hold the water in the soil as long as possible.? Also,
obviously, the deeper the mulch around the trees, the better.? Light shade
trees, such as black locust or some acacia may save more water than they
consume, and increase yields and decrease frost.? You could try these methods
out on part of your land and observe the results.? Digging by hand is best as
you can observe the tree roots, learn about the soil, and avoid fossil fuel
use.? Make sure the swales are
absolutely level, unless you want to channel water to certain places.
?
Rain



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