Apr 02, 2015 the idea after i finished my permaculture design course in the autumn of 2011, i was full of ideas as one would expect, apart from the obvious thoughts of how i intended to apply it to my allotment plots and our back garden there was also another. Artificial swales are often infiltration basins, designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration. Apr 08, 2016 design for water is the bones of any permaculture system and often times the way the layout works with water determines the basic shape of things. The design process requires iterations to achieve an acceptable design. Rob avis, of canadabased verge permaculture, explains how swales at the permaculture research institute of australia work to rehydrate the landscape and recharge aquifers, by permaculture design.
Who is the permaculture design course delivered by. Design of a sustainable urban drainage system the most typical elements of the drainage system in ruwenbos are the swales infiltrating rain water into the soil. First swale permaculture, garden design, permaculture design. Permaculture principles can be applied to any environment, at any scale from dense urban settlements to individual homes, from farms to entire regions. Waterharvesting swales, soil conservation swales and diversion ditches what are swales. First swale permaculture gardening, permaculture, permaculture. Swales, however, follow the contour of a hill, so the water that drains into them doesnt flow one way or another, but fills the swale when it rains. How to construct a swale in the residential landscape. But for now joel and i are going to go in depth on how to build a permaculture swale planting bed. Swales are the most widely used and abused permaculture watermanagement technique. A swale is simply a long, shallow depression in the ground, designed to collect or redirect water. Youll also appreciate that you have the ability to choose any date and any location on the planet to view what the solar.
Naturally, it piqued my curiousity and i had to stop the car to investigate. A swale which is a dead level ditch on contour stops water from rushing over the. Sep 02, 2015 welcome to the mark iii online permaculture swale spacing calculator. It is important to make the swales on contour to hold and store more water and the resources that water carries. This permaculture design course was first convened in 2005 through collaboration with tony walkins and lisa mollison, tagari publications. Swale design process case study 1 permaculture design.
All points along a contour line are exactly the same height above sea. The two downhill from it were started last fall and should be completed by the end of may 2014. They also capture runoff to help protect soil and plants from excessive rainfall that might otherwise cause flooding and erosion. In general, the steps of the design process are as follows. See more ideas about permaculture, permaculture design and garden design. Tutorials for permaculture design with free software web.
Barefoot soulutions and kilifi new year joined forces in creating a permaculture garden with. Then in rain, the water can evenly fill the swale, rather than pooling at one end thereby evenly watering all plants in the vicinity and not just a select few. Rob avis, of canadabased verge permaculture, explains how swales at the permaculture research institute of australia work to rehydrate. How to build a bioswale and why you should want to. Linear food forests along hugelkultured swales midwest. Shooting the urban permaculture dvd with geoff lawton we came across a magnificent example of great mini swale design in a suburban setting in sydney. It looks a bit like a massive ditch with closed ends, trapping all of the water as opposed to having it flow anywhere. How to design your property the process of permaculture.
Permaculture design is an ethically based, wholesystems design approach to create sustainable human settlements and institutions. A permaculture swale is a technique that captures water for irrigation and slowing runoff. Jul 29, 2015 youve finally got your hands on the piece of land of your dreams and now youre looking forward to making the best possible use of it. All runoff is guided through gutters along the streets and in this way is kept visible on the. The original image is fro m ben falk of whole system design, we modified the image to bring more details in some cases, instead of using swales, you can use the keyline design conclusion. Using a computer is one of those decisions and choosing what operating system, as well as the software, can be done sustainably. There are many factors that influence whether or not you swale your property, depending on your slope, soils, hydrology, type of management, ecosystems condition and resource base. Swales, ponds, dams, hugelkultur, netandpan systems, spate irrigation, and morecost versus benefit of different earthworksassessing site needs and suitabilitysoil types and hydrologydesigning for maximum efficiency and lowest costrisk assessment and safe constructionstacking functions and integrating earthworks into a design. First swale permaculture, permaculture design, garden design. Jan 10, 2017 in permaculture world we are bound by the 12 principles. In particular, in us usage, it is a shallow channel with gently sloping sides. Here the front garden was surveyed and the contours planned to work with the natural slope of the land. It is designed to hold water, sinking it down into the landscape and temporarily raising the water table. Calculate peak flow for the 10 year storm from the catchment.
Learn what a swale is and why you might need one in your yard. Below is the diagram of the design process pattern use by treeyo permaculture and for an indepth look at the design. Douglas barnes reminds us throughout the handbook that water harvesting, from interception to storage, has to be done with caution. Swales, keyline design, dams, laser level, keyline plow, p a yeomans, geoff lawton, darren doherty, craig sponholtz, dave spicer, mark shepherd. Permaculture design in 5 steps the permaculture research institute. As permaculture designers, land owners and land seekers, this app is the real deal. Intro to permaculture free osu permaculture course open. Weve covered what i think are the hardest parts of using software. To get my base map, i put tracing paper over the image above, and traced the outline of the site, as well as the essential, immovable features such as the house, driveway, and creek. As it is free software, it is expected that other permaculture practitioners and or software developers interested in the project will join. Landscape design garden design potager bio permaculture design permaculture farming water management rainwater harvesting rain garden fish ponds what is a permaculture swale. Ditch and a mound on contour with perennial vegetation and soil food web stimulation. Swales are ditches dug following the contour lines of the land.
Swales are small earthen embankments used to irrigate trees, plants, and pastures. This calculator creates a template for swale placement. There are many ways to get involved in our handson permablitz education program. It is useful to follow your link to the original article, as it contains a lot of additional information to the above, and very illustrative photographs. Permaculture swale site no longer up like the idea of filling the swale. Ive been putting up tutorials on using free software for permaculture design as a kind of free bonus on geoff lawtons pdc as attempt to reinvest the surplus i got out of it last year, and i thought some. It is useful to follow your link to the original article, as it contains a lot of additional information to the. A simple and natural approach to harvesting rainwater and conserving water. Home design services eventsworkshops wicking beds gift certificates stories from our garden blog contact digging a mini swale. The important thing with a swale is to make sure its level as much as practical at any rate. See more ideas about permaculture, permaculture design and forest garden.
Last fall, a local dozer operator was brought in to dig the first swales. It is, of course, recommended that swales be designed for both functions. The base map is the starting point before developing your site for agricultural pursuits. Swales store and use energy, apply a small and slow solution, use edge, value the marginal, create innumerable microclimates, and can scale up or down depending on your landscape.
Designing a swale builder tractor tool homestead forum at. How to design and build swales, dams, ponds, and other water harvesting systems pdf, the permaculture earthworks handbook. How to design swales for optimum water flow chelsea. May 17, 2011 shooting the urban permaculture dvd with geoff lawton we came across a magnificent example of great mini swale design in a suburban setting in sydney. Travis johnson had a wonderful idea that id love to see worked on by all of us, in his words in this thread eleven permie things. So, the first step is to mark the ends of the swale.
Permaculture submitted 1 month ago by sheepery as i am getting more serious about our permaculture project i realize i need to stop and really do some design, keylines, swales. For the sake of swale newbies, the basic concept of a swale on contour is to catch water as it drains and hold it in place until it absorbs into the ground. The design principle small scale intensive systems is about using small manageable areas of land as efficiently and sustainably as possible, using biological resources and designs that imitate nature, to reduce human labour and to leverage natural ecological processes to our benefit, so we can obtain maximum yields with the least effort in the most ecologically sound way possible. Another tenet of managing water in permaculture is building swales along contour lines. If one builds a large swale system, with big logs and a deep swale on a steep slope there is the potential that when the swales fill during a large rain event, the water could literally lift the logs right out of the ground many logs do float in water and send them down the slope. This means the bottom of a swale needs to be level i. Every decision we make need to fit into principles so that we know the validity of our decisions. Mini swales in an urban backyard the permaculture research. Im sure more will be added to this series over time as well, as permaculture is a huge topic. It is based on the fact that groundwater flows downward, leaving the top half of hills drier than the bottom. A permaculture swale is a technique for capturing and storing water in a garden. Swales are most often discussed among permaculture people when. Ever since ive been slowly learning backyard permaculture design from great permaculture books and applying all the design priciples that i can. How to dig a mini swale canberra permaculture design.
Posts about permaculture design written by earthshed solutions. In my experience as an agronomist and as a farmer, i have had experiences where a swale was the right design. A swales and ponds primer rain is one of the leading causes of soil erosion. Its great for identifying the current sun path and visualizing the solar angle throughout the day. Open source software for designing, implementing and maintaining. The permaculture earthworks handbook is the first dedicated, detailed guide to the proper design and construction of water harvesting earthworks. Learn how to build a swale in the residential landscape. Permaculture zones range from 05, with zone zero being inside the home, and zone 5 being farther away untouched wilderness. From there we can look at the different ways in which design is manifested. Berms and swales on contour are a defining element of permaculture design. Permaculture design breaks down complex questions by applying simple principles and helps us understand how to put water to use in different ways, as it is energy in evolution.
Swale spacing has been a perennial question in permaculture. Log slides scale is an important consideration when designing. You can make drawings, presentations, documents, spreadsheets. Apr 18, 2012 michelle, rowan and i were driving home from a vacation in the mountains when we passed by a swale on a farmers field in the middle of alberta cattle country. Impressive vegetable gardening tips at your backyard ideas. The software and website can be used by people around the world to design. A swale is a shady spot, or a sunken or marshy place. If one builds a large swale system, with big logs and a deep swale on a steep slope there is the potential that when the swales. How many zones a site has depends on how large it is and how it is situated. Small scale intensive systems deep green permaculture. It covers the function, design, and construction methods for nine main types of water harvesting earthworks across a full range of climates. All sorts of plants can be planted onin the berm to help hold the soil together and to benefit from permaculture designforest gardenrain gardenwitchs garden. Permaculture earth works, swales, mini swales, swale, bush tucker, growing bush tucker, bunyip level, aframe. Design a pullbehind, or 3 point hitch implement that builds a properly shaped swale in one pass so more swales.
Permaculture design certificate course in costa rica 2012 solutions for sustainable living. See more ideas about water management, permaculture and permaculture design. Apr 10, 2014 to me, a swale is one such technique and is a quintessential permaculture microcosm all its own. This is not necessary when you design a swale system to aid with water. This calculator creates a template for swale placement based on a logarithmic distribution. Not all design has to be done on paper or computer and when working in areas of low literacy, the 3d option increases the usability of the design process. In the simplest terms, permaculturestyle berms and swales can be defined as a ditch, on contour. Permaculture swales permaculture design course handbook. A permaculture swale is a tool for capturing and storing water in a garden. The basic idea is that you can use free tools and data available online to make a nice, detailed.
Ive been putting up tutorials on using free software for permaculture design as a kind of free bonus on geoff lawtons pdc as attempt to reinvest the surplus i got out of it last year, and i thought some people here might be interested as well. A beautiful opportunity came up at the last advanced permaculture certification course i attended. Sep 19, 2018 a permaculture swale is a technique that captures water for irrigation and slowing runoff. Backyard permaculture design to create an amazing garden. Permaculture is a design system for your garden and beyond. Advanced foundation repairs 5601 w jefferson blvd dallas, texas 75211 8004058880. It was such a great example of how this simple technique can catch and store water on a large scale, we decided to make a short video about it. Understanding waterharvesting permaculture swales, soil.
It focuses on using your space to create the most effective and sustainable garden possible. This post is part of a series of tutorials that explain how i do permaculture design using free software and readily available tools. How to choose the right kind of plants for your swale. A grassed swale is a graded and engineered landscape feature appearing as a linear, shallow, open channel with trapezoidal or parabolic shape. This is the type of design elements we have to include in all our designs so we. Soils that have been altered through earthworks like swales need to be accelerated in. How to design and build swales, dams, ponds, and other water harvesting systems download, the permaculture earthworks handbook. Permaculture water harvesting through swales on contour simply refers to the fact that this sort of swale works on the principle that by keeping everything level, such that the path of the swale moves. Help lessen the need for foundation repairs with a drainage swale or vegetated swale. Welcome to the mark iii online permaculture swale spacing calculator. Although rooted in horticulture and agriculture, permaculture design also touches on regional planning, ecology, animal husbandry, technology, architecture and international development. Download the permaculture earthworks handbook how to.
Truth be told, you can probably envision, collaborate, build, and present your multilayered permaculture design project, using only the tools that came with your computer. If you dont know what permaculture is, you can start by reading my permaculture 101 series. Written by doug crouch this article details the design process behind creating a swale as to meet our needs of a permaculture suburban edible landscaping project, parkwalk permaculture, in the temperate realm of the united states of america. A permaculture swale is a shallow trench dug along the lands contour, with a berm on the downhill side created with soil from the trench. To make a swale, you need to identify the contour line. May, 2014 the first swale is about a year or so old. Permaculture as design permaculture design course handbook. In general, permaculture swales are used to mimic the watercollecting and holding abilities of a thick forest mulch.
Swales are an important tool for irrigating the garden, mitigating stormwater runoff, and reducing erosion. The swale is vegetated with flood tolerant, erosion resistant plants. Design a pullbehind, or 3 point hitch implement that builds a properly shaped swale in one pass so more swales will be built world wide cant. Today im going to discuss what permaculture is with some examples of permaculture design. Permaculture design swales on contour 2014 update part 1. Through skilful design with contour, from large scale, such as swales, all the way down to small scale garden bed, we are able to spread water. Swale paths for permaculture gardens natural building blog.
The same could be said for apache open office, which is free and available for all platforms. Having a specific tool for permaculture design allows us to provide the. Forest garden rain garden permaculture design permaculture farming permaculture principles organic horticulture rainwater harvesting natural garden urban farming swale calculator an online tool for calculating the distance between waterharvesting swales. Swale paths for permaculture gardens 2 comments phil dodd on march 7, 2018 at 1. Easy technique to adjust your slope for a permaculture walkway swale construction process and swale guide. Irrigate the easy way what is a swale and why you need one. It covers the function, design, and construction methods. Free information on regenerative design, landscape restoration, watershed management. In designing a permaculture based landscape, swales can be in integral part of the bigger picture.
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