HOW TO BUILD SWALES - and harvest water
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the host shares a year's journey in gardening, focusing on soil as the foundation for plant growth. They delve into permaculture studies, showcasing the importance of observing natural patterns and cycles. The series highlights the creation of swales, a key permaculture technique for water harvesting and soil improvement. Expert Jeff Lawton's insights on swale design and function are featured, emphasizing their role in enhancing tree growth, preventing soil erosion, and ultimately transforming landscapes into sustainable food forests.
Takeaways
- 🌱 Gardening is a learning process that involves understanding soil as the foundation for plant growth.
- 🐛 The gardener is experimenting with a worm farm in an old bathtub to enrich soil fertility.
- 🌳 Cultivating fruit tree seedlings is part of creating a food forest, aiming for a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- 📚 Permaculture studies are being pursued to observe patterns and life cycles in nature for better garden management.
- 🌿 The importance of soil conditioners like swales is highlighted for water retention and soil improvement.
- 💧 Swales are described as level excavations that can vary in form and are crucial for water management in gardens.
- 🌳 Trees are essential in swale systems for evapotranspiration, which helps in water absorption and atmospheric moisture.
- 🌞 The potential of swales to increase rainfall through increased condensation, especially in desert environments, is noted.
- 🛤️ Swales can be adapted to various climates and soil types, with different strategies for planting and water management.
- 🌱 The progression of swale development over seven years is detailed, showing how they improve soil hydration and tree growth.
- 🌳 The final transformation of swales into forests over time, with trees taking over the water cycle and soil improvement functions.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of the speaker's garden project?
-The speaker's garden project focuses on understanding the soil as the 'stomach' for plants, cultivating seedlings of fruit trees, building a worm farm, and studying permaculture to nurture their garden, which they call paradise.
What is a 'swale' as introduced in the context of permaculture?
-A swale is a long, level excavation used in permaculture to intercept and store water, allowing it to infiltrate and recharge the groundwater. It can take various forms and widths and is often used on slopes to increase soil moisture and plant growth.
What is the significance of trees in a swale system?
-Trees are essential components of swale systems as they help absorb water, increase infiltration, prevent water logging, and contribute to evapotranspiration, which can potentially increase local rainfall and condensation.
Why is it important to plant trees on the mound of a swale?
-Planting trees on the mound of a swale is important because it increases topsoil, provides a place for trees to grow, and helps in the absorption and transpiration of water, contributing to the overall health of the swale system.
How do swales help in desert environments?
-In desert environments, swales are crucial for capturing and storing scarce rainfall, promoting tree growth, and increasing local humidity and condensation, which can lead to increased rainfall over time.
What is the role of the back slope in a swale system?
-The back slope of a swale is often planted with leguminous trees that fix nitrogen and help with water absorption. The roots of these trees grow quickly, chasing the water as it soaks in, contributing to the overall health of the swale.
How can swales be utilized in urban areas with hard service runoff?
-Swales can be used in urban areas to manage stormwater runoff by soaking the water into the ground, promoting tree growth, and reducing the costs and environmental impact of traditional stormwater management systems.
What is the process of rehydrating the soil in a swale system?
-The rehydration process in a swale system involves the soil absorbing water over time, with the maximum rehydration occurring around seven years. This process is aided by the roots of trees, which increase infiltration and absorption.
How can the distance between swales be determined?
-The distance between swales can be determined by factors such as rainfall amount, soil type, and the mature height of the trees. It can range from three to twenty times the average swale width, depending on these factors.
What are some additional benefits of swales in a permaculture system?
-Swales offer multiple benefits, including increasing soil fertility, providing a convenient pathway for transportation, serving as windbreaks in windy areas, and potentially being used for burying organic waste to create rich soil deposits.
How can swales be adapted to different soil types?
-Swales can be adapted to different soil types by choosing appropriate pioneer trees that favor the specific soil conditions, such as sandy or clay soils. Over time, as the soil improves, higher quality trees can be planted.
Outlines
🌱 Gardening and Permaculture Learning Journey
The script introduces the gardener's experience over a year of cultivating a garden on a hill, emphasizing the importance of soil as the 'stomach' for plants. It discusses the gardener's learning process in permaculture, including building a worm farm, cultivating fruit tree seedlings, and observing natural cycles. The script also outlines a three-part video series on swales, starting with an introduction to swales by Jeff Lawton, followed by practical demonstrations, and concluding with the gardener's personal swale construction. Swales are described as level excavations that improve water infiltration and soil health, with trees playing a crucial role in these systems.
🌳 Understanding Swales for Water Management and Tree Growth
This paragraph delves deeper into the concept and function of swales, explaining their role in water management and tree growth. Swales are described as tree-growing systems that prevent water logging and enhance evapotranspiration. They are crucial in desert environments to capture and store rainwater efficiently. The importance of tree planting alongside swales is highlighted to increase rainfall through transpiration and to prevent soil salinization. The paragraph also discusses the potential of swales to be grazed and how they can be adapted to various climates and soil types, emphasizing their versatility and long-term benefits for landscape hydration.
🌿 Swale Design and Its Impact on Soil and Tree Health
The script discusses the design aspects of swales, including their widths, depths, and the importance of maintaining a passive water level for absorption. It covers the use of swales in different soil types, such as sands and clays, and the planting strategies for trees on the mounds and back slopes. The paragraph also addresses the benefits of swales in urban areas for stormwater management and the potential to integrate them with various water sources, like roof runoff and greywater. The role of pioneer trees in improving soil conditions and the transition to high-value trees as the swale matures is also highlighted.
🛤️ Optimal Spacing and Advanced Techniques for Swales
This section provides insights into the optimal spacing of swales based on rainfall and tree height, as well as advanced techniques for enhancing swale function. It describes how swales can collect and accumulate organic matter, contributing to soil fertility and the natural building of soil over time. The paragraph also touches on the use of swales for windbreaks, the creation of soak pans and ponds for water absorption, and the integration of swales with other landscape features for multifunctional use.
🌬️ Swales as Multifunctional Landscape Elements
The final paragraph emphasizes the multifunctional nature of swales, discussing their use as footpaths, wheelbarrow tracks, and transportation routes in gardens and larger properties. It also highlights the surprising performance of swales in various conditions and their role in the rehabilitation of forests. The script concludes with the gardener's intention to share more about swales and their benefits, inviting the audience to continue learning about this sustainable landscape technique.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Permaculture
💡Swale
💡Evapotranspiration
💡Infiltration
💡Soil Conditioners
💡Food Forest
💡Worm Farm
💡Crown Spread
💡Pioneer Trees
💡Rehydration
💡Groundwater Recharge
Highlights
Introduction to the garden's first year and the importance of soil in plant growth.
Continuation of grounding experiments, including building a worm farm and cultivating fruit tree seedlings.
Study of permaculture and its focus on observing patterns and life cycles in nature.
Online learning as a method for acquiring permaculture knowledge through videos.
Introduction to the concept of 'swales' in permaculture design.
Jeff Lawton's influence and contribution to the speaker's understanding of swales.
Explanation of swales as level excavations for water harvesting and soil conditioning.
Role of trees in swale systems for water absorption and evapotranspiration.
Risks of waterlogging and local rainfall deficit without proper tree planting in swales.
Desert swales' importance in capturing and utilizing scarce rainfall for tree growth.
Swale design considerations, including width, tree species, and soil type.
The progression of swale development over seven years and its impact on water absorption.
Use of swales in various climates, from arid to humid, and their adaptability.
Strategies for swale maintenance and enhancement of water infiltration.
Potential of swales in urban settings for stormwater management and tree growth.
Swale's role in soil building and forest rehabilitation over time.
Techniques for increasing swale effectiveness, such as deepening sections and adding wind breaks.
Practical applications of swales in daily garden management and long-term landscape planning.
Reflection on the overall performance and benefits of swales in permaculture practices.
Transcripts
[Music]
g'day
welcome back to the weedy garden a year
has gone by
since i started my garden here on the
hill
far away from any town and even further
from a city
i've learned a lot in 12 months i'm
really beginning to understand how the
soil
is like the stomach for each and every
plant that grows
on this earth i've seen some plants
thrive
i've also seen some die but with each
step
with each wheelbarrow full of soil that
i create here in my garden
i get closer and closer to that somewhat
secret life of plants
i'm continuing the grounding experiments
on building a worm farm in an old
bathtub
and i'm cultivating seedlings of fruit
trees which will
become a food forest
the big news of course is that i'm
studying permaculture
i'm learning how to observe patterns
looking deeper into cycles of life and
nature so i can nurture this little
weedy patch that i call paradise
and share their knowledge with you
it's easy because it's online it's
mostly videos so i can sit back and
watch
listen and learn as long as i have my
computer turned on
and really it's about
reversing the damage
in this next series of three videos i'm
going to share my swale journey
which started with my own words what's a
swale
when i was first introduced to
permaculture back in december last year
when i met
jeff lawton to give you all the info
from the start
jeff has allowed me to share this first
video
it's taken from the online permaculture
design certificate
course which i'm doing at the moment
next week i'll post the second video i
made while jeff was here in the in the
weedy garden
showing me hands on how to dig a swale
for this garden
and do it right on the third and final
video in this whale series i'll
show you how i built a swale
for my food forest weedy garden style
i'm really honored to be able to share
the journey with you
by the end of this little video series
on swales
you you'll be able to harvest and
utilize water wherever
you live in the world
welcome to the swale series and now
i'll hand you over to jeff okay
let's have a look at swales swales
are long level excavations that come in
many
forms and widths they can be just small
ridges in gardens
or rock piles across a slope or
excavated hollows in flat lands and low
slope landscapes they're not elements
that fit into
steep landscape like
soil conditioners swells loosen soils
and absorb water storing it in the soils
and the sediments
they intercept sheep flow
and let it infiltrate recharging
the groundwater overland flow is
interrupted for a few hours or a few
days
and then infiltration becomes
regularly downwards water moving at
right angle the condor down towards the
ground waters as a recharge
into the soils and assisted by the
tree roots trees are essential
as components of swale systems
so most of the time are swales
on slope
they're a mound excavated
out
from the trench to the mound and our
topsoil
is increased at the mount and it's loose
most of the time we're planting trees up
on the mound here
and just below in deserts we
may plant inside because
we've got less rainfall and it's hard to
drown the trees in the desert
so you may move inside but the
infiltration of water is at right angle
of contour and it plumes away
as it sits here and then soaks in
we also plant the back slope often
leguminous trees on the back slope here
fixing nitrogen and the
roots here help the absorption
so the roots grow quickly chasing the
water as it goes down
slowly soaking in
swells without trees risk water logging
and local rainfall deficit because
of the lack of evapotranspiration
and the potential of too much water
storage
because they're on contour interrupts in
the sheep flow
they stop all the water moving past
just temporarily and then just soak it
in
that water disappears into the soil
the trees take some of that back and
transpire it to the atmosphere
tree planting must accompany swells in
all areas so
swales i like to say are tree growing
systems
and it's of most utmost important in
deserts
where there's so much rain that's needed
so there's a chance that as you
interrupt the flows of rain that come so
infrequently and often in large events
you can stop it soak it grow trees that
transpire
more water to the cloud base because the
chances can
increase the rainfall it will definitely
increase the condensation in deserts
the potential crayon spread of the
fringe in trees
so as the trees grow
the crown spread from one side to the
other
shading the swale
this is what we need to understand
the width of the swell can be governed
by
the crown spread that will shade us well
further reducing water loss to
evaporation and dissolve in salt
concentration and water loss
because this water won't evaporate it'll
soak
now the back slopes and the inside
trenches the swells can be grazed
it's possible to run animals in here and
put temporary fences up
and graze animals on the back slope up
to the inside of the mound
eventually it won't make
any difference but grass in this well
won't have the same effect as the trees
grazing between the back slope
and the hangover forage from the swell
trees can be quite beneficial
because the maneuvering here in the
swale
when it rains dilutes right the way
along the swale you get an
even dilution of manure all the way
along
and that's soaking in
but you can't expect grasses and
herbaceous
growth to have anywhere near the same
evapotranspiration
to the cloud base you've got to have the
trees with the deep tap roots
to increase that absorption
swells can be wildly widely used across
the climates
dry land areas they can be very large
because you've got to stop as much rain
as you can when it comes in those large
events and soak it in
and get through most of the year
reassuring your landscape of trees
tree growth giving you shade tree growth
stopping evaporation from wind they also
of course work in humid tropics and
humid cooled or cold climates
and the hydration of the swell builds
over about seven years
each year year one year two year three
year
four it gets up to about year seven and
you've got
the maximum rehydration plume
where each time it rains it comes a bit
more and then you get to a maximum
and it will fully hydrate
to the maximum size and then
quickly drop off the bottom they'll be
recharge the maximum recharge to the
ground water
so you have a dampened hydrology that
wets up as
quickly as possible water available from
wet season to dry season
it's it doesn't matter that it rains in
winter and you'll grow in season is in
summer because it extends
over one season
and the roots reach their maximum
influence
at about seven years so the roots of the
trees
are coming down and they're increasing
the infiltration
effect essentially swales are always
perfectly dead level with no water flow
so water sits passively rises like
a tide and then soaks in
they're not compacted and they're not
sealed they're
made to soak they're uncompacted
swell widths and swell deaths can vary
in relation to the size of a property
small properties small swells of course
large properties can be quite large
slope can make a difference the speed of
infiltration
on local soil types
shallower wider swells in sands
and narrower deeper swales often in clay
fraction
soils and after one or two good soaking
rains
you can seed and plant your swale to
trees
on both banks because you've got a
certain amount of soak on both sides
capillary action will take the water out
to the back slope
and on down and it will take a few years
to
over shade this whale base and
accumulate
humorous relief drop there will be a
certain amount of
leaves coming in an accumulation of
humus but there will be atrophies a lot
of leaf drop from the actual trees
and as efficiency increases extra water
can be led in
so you can lead in diversion drains
from country picking up water from hard
services
over land flow extra water enabling
planting of high value trees so you can
bring in
different trees as the swale starts to
function better and better
you can increase the quality of trees
and and the swell itself can handle more
and more water over time
so that enables you to move the system
up
advance it in quality
that's what they're all about advancing
the quality of the system
swales can be a great benefit with hard
service runoff
in towns particularly sub-humid and arid
towns
could reduce the costs of the efficiency
of stormwater runoff soaking the water
into tree growth tree growth that could
produce fuel
mulch food products even fire proof tans
all roof water and roof water tank
overflows
grey water waste could be led to swells
and it doesn't really matter if swells
are in sand or in clay in sand or even
cinder ash
they grow trees initially pioneer trees
that slow and absorb and hold water
for longer and once established high
value trees
can then be planted and swells the
opposite end of the scale in heavy clays
work well initially growing pioneer
trees with roots that
penetrate the clay breaking it up and
increasing the absorption
so it's not the material that you're
swallowing through
it's the pioneer trees that you might
have to go to
in sand as you're planning initially or
in clay the different types of pioneer
trees that actually
favor the different extremes of material
and then
as the conditions change as you
improve the absorption as you
improve the fertility then you move into
high quality trees we know
that this works the trees grow faster
and are healthier on runoff fed swells
than trees
planted in open country in arid areas
it's most important we plant trees on
swales
or salt concentration may occur
downhill and collapse soils
so we know the trees are pumping the
water cycle
and stopping the concentrations of salts
swells are just temporary events really
over the
long period of time they're replaced by
trees
trees take over the function
they are the precursors to the
rehabilitation of forests
in a region and they give us that
convenient contour lineage to work with
the base of a swale when we look at the
base of a swale
it can be ripped to increase
absorption it could be graveled
so we can gravel the base with swell
or it could be sanded
and on small swells it can even be
mulched
so you can deep mulch as well in a small
swell in a garden you won't have enough
material for a large swell
or you can put down gypsum to loosen
clay if you're in
heavy clay soils to allow more in water
infiltration
the spoil of the swale is normally
mounded downhill so our top source there
the excavation has come over
to our mound but in flat country
there might not be amount because in
flat country
we'll spread the material out on the
lower side usually
but it won't look like there's a mound
at all
so you'll get a flat profile of a swell
and the distance between swells changes
to country
on hill country the potential vertical
height of the trees
at maturity projected horizontally
to the hill as a maximum density
that's an average sort of approach so as
a hill comes down
and it changes in steepness
where we have our swales
the height of the trees projected back
the potential height of the trees comes
back each time
and that's the maximum amount of swells
we need
so as we go on to the steeper country
that projected height
makes the swells closer together
as we get on the steep it's closer as we
go shallow it's further apart
but when we look down from the bottom of
the hill when we look up all we can see
is canopy
it looks like the whole landscape is
forested but there's lots of
interswell there because these are
actual lines of trees
there's a group of trees in that line
but that's just a rough gauge there's no
exact about this
it can change to country another way to
gauge distance is
three to twenty times the average swell
width
depending on rainfall
most useful average size swale bases are
around
one to two meters and the indus whale
space
three to 18 meters but there's no
absolute average
it's more likely that the closer space
in
in rainfall that's quite large
say 120 centimeters 50 inches
and wider spacing in rainfall of
light small ranges of 10 inches 25
centimeters or less
in humid areas the interswell is usually
fully planted
with hardy species and many of them as
mulch producing species in dry areas
maybe it's quite bare and mainly
functioning
as runoff for the swells themselves
but mulch will blow into swells
and wash into swells as as water flows
it'll bring organic matter in organic
matter will arrive in swales
and find dust and silts build up in the
swale bases
they become deposition systems they're
collecting
all kinds of detritus material
that in itself is increasing fertility
they naturally actually build soils
and over a period of time they will
start to
fill up and become level terraces over a
very
long period but by then you've got a
very large forest there
you don't need to swell or you can cast
sidecast the material out
onto the mound and increase the amount
you can
actually keep redressing it doesn't
matter
you can even put domestic waste and
organic matter
into a swell in buried pits you can bury
pits
in a swell
this is like swale furniture swale
attachments
these will fill up with water and they
will become rich soil deposits
inside a swell either in the mound or in
the trench itself
and on windy sites this whale spoil bank
this swale bank
it's actually a very sheltered starting
place
for plants and trees
and every six to ten swell can be
planted to a wind break
where wind is the limiting factor you
can use the swales themselves as
wind breaks wells and the swells in
between is production swells
so they go into another function
and we know ridges should always have
wind breaks
because ridges are out there in the wind
but also there's more condensation
on ridges and that condensation is a
trickle down moisture
with nutrient and if it's swelling
downhill we're picking that up
and spreading it out
swell sections can be over deepened as
well
so there are places where we can put in
deep sections
and this is most effective in clay
fraction source creating kind of
ephemeral ponds
where if we're in sands we can often go
into
widening for more effect and
in volcanic fraction soils which are
like sands as well
very absorbent there we can create
soak pans that readily absorb water
and increase the groundwater recharge
swales can be kept to a convenient witch
so they can be a foot track
or they could be a wheelbarrow track in
a garden or they could be on a small
property
a quad bike track or they could be
a tractor track on a large property they
can be used for transporting supplies in
and produce out and many different
functions
for as well you need to get along as
well to get
material in to mulch to compost to
fertilize to water possibly in really
dry periods
you might want to flood a swell if
you've got dams uphill
and you need to get product out they're
a convenient way
to get across country because they're
perfectly level
we are continuously surprised at the
performance
and function achieved by swales
[Music]
thanks for today and thanks for watching
i'm going to go and have a bath now
you
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
DESIGNING SWALES - Geoff Lawton visits The Weedy Garden - Swales Part Two.
Erosion and Soil
Soil Profiles and Types | GEO GIRL
India's Water Revolution #2: The Biggest Permaculture Project on Earth! with the Paani Foundation
Cracking the Potassium Cycle: Exploring Essential Nutrient Dynamics!
Soil Science Introduction
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)