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  • From: "sals3" <sals3@cox.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] swales in Santa Barbara
  • Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 17:06:07 -0700

Thanks this is all good to hear. what a dream. I guess I have to learn to make these swales. I guess the best way to do it is set in a rain storm and watch the water flow. I am on a south facing slop and the trees are in the middle of a tarsus. darn spelling . so the trees have a hill behind them where the swale should be. the ones on the hill are at the bottom of the tarsus on kind of flat land then down to the next tarsus. . the flat land on top I guess I just watch the rain and dig a trench. guess I better get on u tube and learn how to make those two poles with the string hanging down in the middle. on the hill side I may already have a berm in place. Make sure the swales are
absolutely level, unless you want to channel water to certain places I have to learn to do this. hope I can find it on utube.

thanks for all the feed back.
the way drips plug up and critters eat the line it would be nice to have the back up of a swales and berms. I will have to read up on berms. I'll check out that web sight.

----- Original Message ----- From: <lbsaltzman@aol.com>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] swales in Santa Barbara



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 Once the deciduous trees reach about 3-5 years old they are withdrawn from irrigation water and make it on the winter rains exclusively.?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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