Permaculture Tip of the Day - What is a Swale?

[@amywhitaker7256]

I will always remember stumbling upon Mark Shepherd, Joel Salatin the Back to Eden Film because it was the motivation I needed to get me past a tough time. I have almost an acre to grow in. I have been looking for resources and like minded people near me and now I will remember stumbling on all you have to offer. Anticipate a lady from East Texas showing up on one of your courses in the future. I was looking for direction and Eureka! Found it! :)

[@FlaviaYoung]

Best swale explanation ever! Thanks for this video.

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Flavia Young thanks for the kind words

[@garymacantanaiste257]

Thanks for explaining this so clearly mate. you have given me some really good ideas.

[@mojavebohemian814]

Thank you from northeast Arizona.

[@newnegritude1550]

You are an excellent teacher.

[@sarahmack15]

You are an excellent teacher! Thank you for being!

[@aysen8366]

Great video. Great explanation. Lots of tips from experience. Thank you very much.

[@jamesgreen8070]

excellent video! well thought out and well explained.

[@castleofcostamesa8291]

What a fantastic video! I am in love with swales!! I have a flat piece of urban garden in Southern California where rain water is scarce. I am not sure how to incorporate this wonderful idea to conserve water on my tiny garden. Thank you for the video! Also you are very clear and soothing to listen to! Subscribed!

[@daudadamd1519]

Thanks and good job very informative

[@wudchk]

I know this is an old video but it's the best one you have on swales.... Firstly - great meeting you at Mother Earth News Fair in Belton! You changed my outlook on doing my property. My question, and I regret that I wasn't able to ask you this question in person...but here it is: Some context before the question: - I live on a limestone shelf like most of Central Texas, and I have approximately 1-4 inches of soil before rock. - My property is on a slight grade (slopes to the south) and all water runs into a creek at the back of my property (but is not on my property) - I already have 100 ton of dirt in the front yard (about 120 yards) and a skidsteer to use Question: 1- Does it make sense to actually do swales on my property when I don't have much depth with my soil? 2- Would it make more sense to just use berms to soak up the water? 3- Thank you for your time, please let me know if I can provide you with a donation for assisting me.

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Hi WUDCHK First thanks for the question. Know that I have limited information on your project and property based on the data I currently know and I cannot give professional advice without looking more closely at many factors. (Like I mentioned in my professional landscape assessment talk at mother earth news fair on that sunday) With that said. In general: I've seen and have read reports of swales on hard and soft bedrock with good success. I've also seen and recommended mulch berms and or soil and mulch berms on flatter lands to work similar to swales in permaculture. Those must be stabilized with fast growing ground cover asap. And you need to do calculations of 10 yr min and 100 yr 24 hr rain events in order to build them appropriately. It's kind of generalization but hope that helps. Blessings.

[@wudchk]

@@schoolofpermaculture thank you good sir, that actually does help. What are your rates for coming out to do a more through professional assessment ? I'm 30 minutes north of Austin, so about 2 hours south of you. If that's too much of a drive, would you suggest anyone local to me?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

@@wudchk lets start with a chat. Use the form at permacultureconsult.com to start. Bless you.

[@bevsartsandcrafts715]

New subbie here :) great video and the best explanation I've seen so far ( and I've watched ALOT of permaculture videos). Some that I've seen presume that you already know lots of Permaculture information so they don't explain as well as you have. Looking forward to seeing more of your films. Hello from the UK :)

[@jksatte]

I have been google and youtube studying permaculture for some time now and this is honestly the best explanation I have seen of swales and berms. I wonder where annual plant production fits into this type system. Janice

[@claireandersongraham3581]

orchards are generally married with swales...slowing, sinking and spreading water and nutrients.

[@resilientfarmsanddesignstu1702]

The problem with swales on contour is that they create stagnant water. Water needs to flow to remain healthy. Our setup for swales is this. Build your pond network. Keyline plough the surrounding land (so as to transfer water from valleys to ridges. Create a network of swale/canals slightly off contour to connect and transfer slowly flowing water between ponds at different elevations. Install hydraulic ram pumps to recycle and maintain the flow of water and microhydro (at dam spillways, trickle pipe outlets and places where irrigation water from the swales is periodically released down slope). Line these areas with rock to prevent erosion and increase aesthetic value. Place hugelkulture mounds on the downslope side of swales. We also have retaining walls made of cut sod, stone, blocks, etc. downslope of the mounds in areas where we have access roads. Be sure to use a wide variety of natural wood species and mineral bearing rocks, leaf mould, biochar and other nutrients for your fill. Cover with aged manure/topsoil/sand as needed. Plant your trees into that. Periodically, add some mushroom logs from the forest. Bury one end. Cover the surface with patches of mulch, rocks, leaf mold, plant your fruit tree guilds around that. Between swales run your walkways, jogging/hiking/skiing trails and harvest access/service roads. That’s where the retaining walls pay off. Easy to drive under the branches and easy to hand or roll things down ramps off the mounds to the trucks. Retaining walls add to the aesthetics as well. You can breach the walls in places to create waterfalls. So now you have a circulatory network of leaky swales and keylines, pumping hearts and nutrients flowing through your regenerative permaculture food forest. Add solar panels. Use the solar and micro-hydropower for lights, sensors, etc.

[@pollyblackburn28]

great explanation. thanks so much!

[@pasdeville]

thanks for the explanation

[@shanitolentino3397]

Really awesome explanation!

[@SJ-gj7mx]

Such a great video.

[@evandorco5193]

Thank you so much

[@mjlouis20]

I've heard that swales should only be dug on hills with an incline of no more than 3 to one. I was wondering your thoughts on that point. Must the bottom of the swale be so flat and shallow? I was thinking about digging a swale about 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide with more of a crescent shaped cross section of which the bottom will all be level. I live in Santa Cruz, Ca and am suffering from the drought. What do you think about filling with mulch as i accumulate woody material? Can I fill it 3 feet deep with wood chips, tree trimmings, and other rough woody mulch?

[@claireandersongraham3581]

Aligning Humans with Nature's Abundance, Beauty & Innate Intelligence. We are Nature. This will work out nicely. Thank you for illuminating swales clearly. Have you worked with the PA Yeomans' Keyline system and his Yeomans Plow? 1957 KZbin of PA in Australia making soil from shale is awesome...his son, Alan Yeomans carries on this crucial carbon-sequestering work.

[@yungxama1606]

Would you suggest creating swales/ditches on horizontal land for water harvesting?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Possibly. It depends Yung Cub. Would need to know more of your scenario. What degree slope is it? Annual avg rain and snow? Where in the world is it? What are you trying to do?

[@caitlinvongaertner9153]

Just curious how useful swales are on pretty flat land.. I don't really have any slope or hills to work with. I also live in an area with a lot of Lava Rock and the drainage is excellent- in heavy rains hardly any water pools- it just drains right into the soil. Would the water in my swales just soak right in?

[@SkylerMarinoff]

it depends - what do you want the swale for?

[@caitlinvongaertner9153]

Skyler Marinoff I've decided to move my first garden to an area with a small slope- very small- but the soil I have on my property drains extremely well- so I was hoping to use them to hold moisture since I live in an arid climate.

[@johnatkinson512]

Geoff always points out the berm is soft earth mound... no packing !

[@Hussein-Hassan90]

I have a less slope soil, is it important to construct swales as water harvest?

[@tiawhyman703]

love ya straw hat,mate cool as vid g,day from Tasmania . I probley get about 10 maga litres of h2o ee every winter through my block . this swale -shes the business for me bro.. thanks...

[@harryhasek5888]

nice vid, keep it up!! n cool ass shirt too!

[@redingm]

How would you build swales on a steep almost completely vertical slope which is pretty much all limestone rock? Do you think I could build a swale at the base of the hill where it is more flatter, and bring in dirt rather than dig down and basically create a ring of dirt, a few feet away from the base of the hill? I live on my family farm which my mom still owns where we built an add-on to the house which included adding on to the basement, so I still have piles of leftover dirt, a lot of mostly clay. Of course I am just writing this, brainstorming, trying to come up with ideas in the spur of the moment. Any ideas?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

redingm, I would not recommend swales for steep slope. If it is small scale then do a search for terraces on our youtube channel. If it is larger scale - look for a youtube video called "hope in a changing climate" Best to you Nicholas

[@watwudscoobydoo1770]

Build individual wells around each spot you plan to plant a tree. With either bricks or rocks start by bury a few securely into the hillside/base of the hillside a few feet below where you want the plant. Big rocks first, then keep building up in a semi circle, make it progressively wider as you go up. Also stack the bricks/rocks sloped with the hillside at first, but then progressively pull out and stack them more vertical as you go. The size of the brick/rock wall you will need to make depends on the slope of the hillside. Eventually you can form a flat spot, then a depression spot. You then add the straw/mulch and plant in the center of the depression. Its not as good as the swales because it doesn't trap as much water when it rains, but it holds water. You might still have to add water, depending on your climate and what you plant, but what you do add is going to go a lot further. Most I have done this with is about a 60-70 degree slope. But if you have enough rocks/bricks. I live on a dry limestone/sandstone heavy clay mountain in California, and it works well for me.

[@mohammadallawati1992]

redingm Build steps. They use them on mountains.

[@maxdecphoenix]

redingm google Machu Picchu.

[@mohammadallawati1992]

maxdecphoenix Dont forget the Lamas haha

[@andrewyek]

hiii, if i have a slope hill, which i plant fruit trees on the contour swale, then the distant of my fruit tree will varies isn't it ? the distant between the row will be some narrow, some wide apart.. it is not that suitable isn't it ? a bit confused.

[@joannejohnston1907]

Hey Thanks! Not sure why that "on Contour" idea is difficult.--If you eyeball it does it wreck havoc?

[@escapefromny2012]

Sorry it looks like all one run on paragraph, but KZbin ignores any line breaks I create.

[@escapefromny2012]

PS) You can create a waterfall if you do NOT do it properly. Some may actually want to do this. If you purposely let the water pool at one section of your swale line (by making that section lower) then punch a hole in that section of the berm and pile a bunch of rocks there (on the down slope side of the swale), and add a line of rocks below it, there you go - you'll end up with a water fall. I don't think may people would have a need for this, but it can be done. It's also a way to get a lot of water off a section of land and funneled into one spot (for water storage instead of irrigation). Which you might want to do if you live at the base of a mountain - you might want to slow and control the water run off that goes down the side of a fairly steep mountain, making it funnel into a waterfall that ends at a large pool or a base swale or creek. :)

[@123abcbruce]

What do you do to the end of the swale? Should you raise it above the contour? Say you've reached the end of your property and the contour continues off of it?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

There are a few options. 1. You can do nothing to it and have it be a spillway. 2. You can curve the berm around the outer edge of the swale to create a lip that will not allow the water to fall off the edge (make sure to always design in an overflow or two) Thank you for viewing! Nicholas

[@escapefromny2012]

Would love to see a three dimenstional model (made of clay or dirt) of any explainations you give. I know you're busy, but I'm sure it would help. :) Thanks!

[@edels2688]

School of Permaculture 1meter=3feet+a few inches!!!

[@samapthk]

Hi Nic, In this video, it is not clear how the overflow of water out of a Swale is handled. Can that be explained?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Hi Naveen, we gave a vid coming out explaining these elements soon. Make sure to subscribe

[@Terry-bl2xs]

during a dry period isn't it a waste of water since its gonna evaporate?

[@threepingsthree]

I see swales talked about frequently in relatively arid environments. I live in Southeast KY and although our summers can feel hot, they are not often dry. Are swales appropriate for planting trees here?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Tyler, which town in Kentucky. Most of KY gets over 40 inches of rain a year. But yes your area and dryland climates benefit greatly from both swales and subsoiling.

[@threepingsthree]

A south facing mountain/hillside outside of a town called Cumberland. It is interesting how swales, or possibly insloped terraces help in both dryland, and temperate climates.

[@mellamoesroy]

Great video! I'm learning all of the time. 😉😉😉 My permaculture project is in southern Spain in the desert and it's extremely dry but by following water harvesting with installing swales I could see growth after just 4 days after it had rained and some of the plants have lasted longer than I'd expected. Check out my permaculture videos to see how I'm getting on. I have subscribed and thanks for the info, I will plant some trees in the bottom of the swales and see what happens. From my videos you can see I clearly have a lot to learn but I'm in. Permaculture where the heart is. Thanks Roy

[@thisguyrighthere3647]

Do you dig in front of contour line or behind?

[@schoolofpermaculture]

this guy right here you can do both, but most often it is uphill of the marker. There is also cut ins and just berming as well as digging the swale.

[@thisguyrighthere3647]

Thanks for the quick reply.

[@woohoo7881]

Great job explaining what a swale is and what on contour means... terrible hat tho😏

[@xcvx16]

TIL I should film permaculture videos.

[@HallmarkHustler]

Only reason I had to look up what a swale was is because someone named a mass grave as one.

[@talynnvink730]

I think I would refer to this as terrace tilling in my early days of FFA. It has been a LONG developed skill of farmers for controlling water flow from rain to help crops grow on hills. Not sure where SWALE came in?? But is a very accurate description of what it is supposed to do. NOT a new concept.

[@mateoalaskez3976]

did This guy unconsciously mention flat earth?!?! ;))))

[@DH007-w2d]

Funny when you say : "it's when we say on contour that we start loosing people "... As a French man who has just discovered the word swale, on contour might be the only one I knew... Anyway, thanks for posting.