How to reforest a steep slope without swales or irrigation 🌱🌿🌳
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2023
- In this video I explain how we’ve reforested a steep slope without the use of swales or any irrigation. In future videos I’ll be giving detailed tutorials on propagating native Australian rainforest species as well as fruit and nut trees we’ve used in our food forest. Feel free to subscribe if you would like to learn how to grow your own forest and help get this video out there to more people! Thanks for watching and happy growing! Alex 🌱🪴🌿🌳
www.dreamsofgreen.com.au
Please feel free to check out the below videos for more growing inspiration and tutorials:
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Growing mangoes from seed:
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Growing and harvesting loquats:
• Why I’m Harvesting & P...
Beautiful support tree for your food forest:
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Take a tour of my first food forest:
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I appreciate how succinct this video is. A lot of permaculture channels would have taken an hour to convey what was conveyed in this video.
Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, when I was researching I found it helpful if videos were around the 10min mark give or take so I could quickly absorb some information while I was taking a tree planting break! Alex 🌱🌿
what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns
@@lauralee6628in areas of lower rainfall (assuming you do get big rain events) don't you just need to space the swales further apart on the slope and dig them larger to catch a larger volume of water?
that may work = however is not unknown to 2 years or more with no significant rainfall in all parts of australia with less than 700 mm rainfall = you can get some tree crops to survive but not all tree crops = to date no viable working model to verify the efficiency of swales in areas with 700mm or less rainfall = if we give you 1000 hectares and $10,000,000 at goondiwindi (in 550 mm rainfall) how much income can you earn from a $10,000,000 land development investment with tree crops grown on swales ?? without stored water in tanks ???
@@lauralee6628 that's a good question, one I am not equipped to answer.
When you mentioned regions with 700mm per year, I was assuming even a drought year would be at least 300mm
Finally found some Australian UA-cam channel which talks about permaculture. There are hundreds of channels filled with American ones. Keep posting
Thanks so much Ben! Will do! Alex 🌿
Now that's funny because I thought it was an Australian who pioneered permaculture and I'm in the U.S. Maybe I'm confusing it with polyculture.
I have the opposite experience so I feel for you 😂 permaculture originated with Bill Mollison, who is Australian. There is a huge community there. Milkwood is a well known one as well as Zaytuna farm which is run by Geoff Lawton to name a few. I hope you find more resources! Good luck!
Polyculture Farms is an aussi channel. You can see insane progress on the channel
Good job! I've been pushing folks to try strips like that, especially with native clumping grasses that'll work like a strainer to really hold back the soil and rain. Looks like you've proven the concept and I appreciate you posting this vid!
Thanks very much! This is great to know you are thinking along the same lines. Have you been working on a project of your own? Love to hear about your experience. Wishing you all the best! 🌿🌾
@@dreamsofgreen Thankfully, I live in a wet area so holding onto water really isn't necessary. For me, it's about using native plants to encourage wildlife to hang around and eat the pests in the garden. I know a lot of folks are jumping on the Vetiver grass bandwagon, thinking it's all the rage and the perfect solution, but I've come to prefer using native grasses because they help in ways that Vetiver cannot - like producing food and homes for the native animals that have evolved in this area.
In Australia, for example, you have a ton of clumping grasses that work much the same as Vetiver. The Lomandra species not only form a nice clump, but have quite a tough rooting habit that binds the soil so it can't wash away easily. That the local wildlife has evolved to use the plant means that you're adding to the food web rather than introducing a grass that does nothing for the ecological system of the area.
When planted close together to form a tight line, clumping grasses like the Lomandra or Poa look absolutely fantastic as a hedge and really add to the value of the homestead. That they also form a filter that slows surface water runoff is a bonus. Who wouldn't love a hedge of Festuca Glauca or Poa Poiformis around their back garden? Throw in a few Lomandra Longifolia for good measure and you've got a hedgerow that's both attractive and functional. Mix it up with some Orthosanthus Multiflorus 'Morning Iris' every few feet and you've got a design that'd make all the neighbors jealous, for sure.
And best of all, they're all native plants that have evolved to live in the conditions you have on hand. That means you need to do less work to maintain them, and they work for you to help build the soil biome with their root structures while also fulfilling their role in the local food web.
Around my neck of the woods, we use clumping grasses like Panicum Virgatum and Andropogon Gerardii to do the same thing. While non-native plants might accomplish one thing, like preventing erosion, because they didn't evolve here, they pretty much create a black hole in the food web. Sure, they might root deep, like the Vetiver, and help stop erosion, but that's all they do. They can't feed the local songbirds and pollinators because the two didn't evolve together, and without food.... well, it's no wonder we've lost more than 30,000,000 songbirds since the 70's when non-native plants became all the rage in the horticulture industry. Those non-native plants stay looking pretty because insects don't nibble on the leaves. But without insects, there are no soft protein sources for the songbirds to feed their chicks in the nest. No food for the baby birds doesn't generally work out well, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Anyhow, kudos to you for thinking outside the box. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Thanks so much for this really interesting and informative reply. You make some really great points. The lomandra are used extensively around here for exactly that - erosion control on creek banks and steep slopes. Thanks also for mentioning the other species, I’ll look them up as there are many grasses I’m not familiar with. That’s a devastating loss of songbirds by the way. Watching all the birds come back into the tree rows has been such a joy. Of course there’s great uses for vetiver, however I didn’t use it as I had an abundance of other native clumping grasses that were already thriving and the birds were loving it! Thanks again, I’ve enjoyed reading. Alex
@@dreamsofgreen Dr. Doug Tallamy has one a few videos here on UA-cam where he talks about the real-world costs of planting non-native plants in our yards. Something like 70% of our ecosystems have been replaced with things that haven't evolved in that local area, so it causes something of an invisible cascade failure in the whole chain of life. 90% of birds require soft protein sources like caterpillars to feed their chicks in the nest, and just one nest can require more than 4000 caterpillars to reach maturity. Since we've opted to use non-native species in our yards to the degree we have, that means the local insects not only can't eat them because they don't recognize them as a food source, but everything that eats the insects then has far less food for their young.
Non-natives like Vetiver might work great to help with erosion control, and even provide fodder for livestock, they are basically "inert" in the landscape. Planting things that are native to the region, however, can host dozens of different insects that serve as the foundation of the food chain much like how plankton works in the oceans. Often, we don't even understand the complexity of what the native plants are doing.
Bunch Grasses, like the Lomandra or Festuca, also produce tons of nutrient-rich mulch every year. Because they tend to root down deeper in the strata, they are mining minerals that aren't usually available to plants that have a shallower rooting habit. When their leaves are then used as mulch, that wider array of nutrients then becomes available to other plants, increasing the health of the plants and the taste of their fruits. Folks get so fixated on NPK that they forget there are a bazillion other nutrients needed for a healthy plant, just like with people.
I always recommend the grasses be cut to the crown at the beginning of the dry season. Not only does the mulch help to retain soil moisture, but removing the standing dead stalks will greatly reduce the fire hazard by making it harder to catch alight. Combined with the increased soil moisture means that fires are far less likely to take hold.
Thanks for this, I’ll look him up! Again, I’ve learnt so much from one post from you. I agree - this NPK fixation! And love the last paragraph too. Great information. I’m just starting to cut back the grass around the trees for mulch and to start reducing fire risk. Thanks again, Alex 😊
What an incredible video. I just want to echo how nice it is that you get straight to the point. The amount of knowledge shared is impressive, and I love how you explain all your plans whilst going along (like the branches to save topsoil from running off). I'm looking to study/find work in conservation and restoration, so this is all very exciting to see! I hadn't thought of another method other than swales, and how they don't work past 15 degrees. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I wish you every success in your chosen career, I’m sure it will be very rewarding for you! Best wishes, Alex 🌿
Wow three years makes a huge difference. I love seeing your progress.
Thank you. I affirm this method. I have been terracing similarly in Colorado (USA) for 25 years and have sustained large shrubs, fruit trees, vegetables, and grasses (poa et al). Here the annual rainfall is ~14", and the elevation is 6700'. Understanding the soil (structure, texture, pH ) is primary for composition to balance retention and drainage, then amending and planting accordingly.
Thanks so much for sharing, wonderful to know you’ve been doing this for the last 25 years and it works! Kind regards, Alex 💚🌿
I love this. Its a great way of arresting water & soil run-off and sequence the land back up the chain. Wonderful!
Thanks so much Scott! 🌿
Love what you doing for wildlife and I look forward to seeing more of your food forest.
Thank you so much Deborah. It’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. 💚
A bloody wonderful idea. Great job bringing the land back to its natural state.
Wow, thanks so much. It’s been so rewarding seeing it transform! Alex 💚🌿
Amazing information thank you 🙏🏽 I own 3 acres of land, all of it sloping! I really want to re-forest the land, but don’t have the budget for putting in swales as I’d need a machine. This system looks way better and you’ve inspired me to start turning my old cow paddock into tree covered land once again.
That’s wonderful Sharon! If you are ever over Kyogle way, send me an email at alex@dreamsofgreen.com.au. I’d be happy to show you around. Best wishes for your property!! Alex 🌿
@@dreamsofgreen Thank you Alex, I will definitely take you up on that offer! I lived in Lismore for 18 months, such a special place and area you live in. My Mum is at Goonellebah so next time I visit her, I’ll come see you too 😃
In addition to your pointers regarding cattle, I would suggest rotational grazing. That way all the manure and urine is concentrated in one area which is then left fallow for 60 or more days to regenerate. In addition to this, if free range chooks are sent through an area approximately 3 days after the cattle have been moved on, they will scratch up the cow pats and feast on the fly larvae. This has the added bonuses of providing free proteins for yet another income stream, keeps the fly population under control and helps speed the recognition the grasses.
Agree 100%. Sadly the average age of a cattle farmer in Australia is 61 years old and most have a day job. There is a new generation of regenerative farmers coming through (for example, southern cross university in Australia is now offering regenerative farming degrees). I’m optimistic that the methods you describe above will become the ‘new normal’.
what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns
@@dreamsofgreen that’s awesome news. I have hopes that the idea spreads far and wide. Even from an economic view its a no brainer. Improved pastures mean one of two things, either you can successfully run m,ore head on the same amount of land or with extra forage, you can get calves up to market weight sooner in the season and thus command a premium price for them.
Absolutely!
Have to wait for trees to mature a bit.otherwise the cows will eat them.
Wonderful tour of your hillside and planned shady and slow water areas. Rotational grazing with silvo-pasture combines the extra benefits to the soil and the trees and grasses. Thanks for the time and sharing your video.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Yes I think silvopasture has so many amazing benefits! Thanking you again, Alex 🌿
what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns
I love to see what you are doing. I hope to follow your venture as your trees grow.
Thanks so much Garrett. I can’t wait to see the rainforest species take off! I’ve got some really beautiful native species in there so it will be interesting to see how the forest develops over time. Alex 🌱😊
I paused to say that those grass rows actually produce a swale like function. They slowly build up mounds instead of digging swales. Difference in elevation is difference in elevation, right? It slows the water flow, and as organic debris caught up in the grass rows, they will mound up slowly. I love it!
Thank you so much! Yes, exactly my goals for this system 😄 It’s a ‘how to swale when you can’t swale’ type of set-up. 🌿
@@dreamsofgreen Honestly, I would probably swale that way even if earth works was an option, now that I've seen it. I love things that require less work; not more.
Here is a link to the channel my wife made for videos of the farm:
ua-cam.com/channels/H57pOwu07Sy7Fc8EQxkr8Q.html
Thanks for sharing what you are doing. It truly was inspiring.
Well I can’t use my hands to dig a hole like you can in the beautiful soil you created! I think you’ve done a remarkable job with the use of swales. Thanks for the link, watching now!
@@dreamsofgreen I had a foot or two of mulch on the front yard for almost a year before I made my way out there. I was working in the back yard first. My wife's crew would fill garbage cans with weeds, and grasses, and stomp them down.
When they got them here, they came out in garbage can shaped grass pills. The funniest looking things you've ever seen. I just had them cover the whole yard with them without fluffing them at all. What a shade cover!
In addition to shade, and the automatic drip system it activates, the microbes at the surface (the O-Horizon layer) break down the organic matter, and it filters down into the soil. I do almost no work anymore.
It is like most things in life. Getting set up requires a lot of project work, but maintenance is easy. When the house is a wreck, the "overhaul" is a huge project. But, if you do it well, keeping things tidy is not all that hard. You just have to be at it daily.
I started and ran the yardwork business for years before my wife took it over. I learned how to get weeds out. Bermuda grass is abundant here, and it is hard to get out. Especially in our clay soil. (Ok, not clay...concrete!) LOL
When I see the rare weed now, I pull on it, and a foot or more of weed and root just gently comes out...easily! It is dazzlingly amazing! Especially after years of experience sweating them out before.
The mulch makes the microbes happier, allowing more fungi to grow, which changes the bacteria to fungus ration to change. This actually makes it horrible soil for weeds to grow in. They crave bacterial dominant soil.
Love this. Such an amazing transformation. Thank you so much for sharing. I can’t wait until I have a forest floor to walk along! 🌱🌿🌳
Hello from the Northern Hemisphere. I live in the hills near a Mediterranean town, and all of the property I recently acquired is on slopes. That's all we've got over here. The native flora is vastly different, but otherwise, there are many similarities. We have extreme droughts and equally extreme precipitation. I'm trying to figure out how to fit my permaculture garden into the existing landscape, without having to use traditional stone terraces, which are expensive to build (and these days it's really hard to find people with the relevant knowledge). You've given me a few great ideas to experiment with. I'll keep checking out your channel, and will keep you posted. Thank you!
Check Jeff Lawton's (also an Australian) work about swales. Jeff's work relies on digging along contour lines, while this one looks for ways not to dig. But compared to terraces, both are interesting to find out about. I built dry stone walls in Dordogne (France) and I agree - labour is hard to find, and nobody would want to pay me at the level of expertise + amount of time this takes! But it fitted the lifestyle of those who built it: out in the field all the time, shifting the stones out of the cultivated areas and reserving them for the walls, using patience over generations rather than fast investment of money and (fossil) energy. If you wanted to machine-build terraces cheaply and fast, buy cages made from iron wiring (from the sort of iron bars made to reinforce concrete?) Then you plonk the cages at the bottom end of your terrace, throw the stones in and back-fill with soil - or, slowly back fill with soil as you sift the stones out. Old terrace builders will scream that you are destroying the landscape, but you get a similar result in months, instead of decades, and you can do most of the work with a digger! Ready stone-filled cages also exist, but of course you have more stones on site than you know what to do with already :)
Thank you so much and wishing you all the very best with your property! Kindest regards, Alex 💚🌿
Really inspiring what you’ve created there - look forward to seeing how it develops. thanks for sharing. 👍🏻
Thanks for watching! 🌿
Really like this idea. We have some slopes on our place in Oklahoma (USA) that I think would benefit from this system. Thanks for posting this video. I look forward to your future videos.
Oh fantastic Claudia! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions and I wish you all the best on your property. Happy planting! 🌱💚🌿
Many thanks. I'll be sure to get in touch if I have questions
Thank you for sharing! I’ve also got a very steep slope and this information is so helpful!
You are so welcome! Feel free to reach out if I can help you at all. Wishing you all the best with your property! Alex 🌳🌳🌳
Thanks Alex. I'm on the mid-north coast. Your videos are really helpful for what I'm trying to do. Really enjoying the content. Keep it up.
Thanks so much for your encouragement Matt! You live in a beautiful part of the world. Any questions or support I can offer please feel free to reach out. Many of the species I’m using up in Kyogle would work for you too. All the best with your project! Alex 🌿
We did this on our dairy farm in South Africa,which has even more issues with soil erosion than Australia ,we just called them contours but had them further apart ,approximately 4 meters apart ,worked a treat preventing erosion
Thank you so much for sharing!! So good knowing you’ve had success with this. My rows are also on average about 4m apart but the steeper areas closer and the flatter areas a bit further apart. Really appreciate you sharing. Best regards for your property, Alex 💚🌿
Such a spectacular system! I got great ideas from the video. Thank you for sharing it!
I once made the mistake to free my seedlings from the suffocating high grasses. The seedlings were immediately spotted by deer and destroyed many of the seedlings.
Yes it’s such a balance with the grass. I’ve had a couple of seedlings ‘pruned’ by wallabies but luckily they bounced back. The grass basket system seems to work well for me, where I clear around the trunk and use the cut grass as mulch, then tie the surrounding long grass over the seedling to form a shelter. This was my solution in the tree rows as I couldn’t afford thousands of tree guards and wooden stakes! Wishing you much success Franek and I hope you’re able to get your trees established. Best regards, Alex 🌿🌳
thank you @@dreamsofgreen
"I'll just take my knife, and go for a lovely nature walk..." Love it! (Great video btw, thanks!)
wow you are so considerate! please do a video of how you planed the design of your property and keep up the good work!!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! What a great suggestion! 💚🌿
Thank you. I can see major advantage in leaving the grass that I had been clearing. Less effort better result we are on 1:3. The remarks on mowing are particularly useful.
Thanks Peter. I like less effort! I’ll do a demo on the mower once the grass gets up too. Best regards, Alex 🌿
Like that u are bringing the trees back and encouraging others as well.
Thanks so much Tom. Appreciate your comment. Best wishes, Alex 🌿
Fantastic contribution to the earth and community.
Wow, thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement! Alex 💚🌿
Fascinating practical information. So much to learn... Thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge Alex
My pleasure and thank you Wendy! 🙏🌿
Alex, I live in Northern California and have been looking for advice on how to reforestate neglected mountain steep slopes. I am so glad I found your channel! Thank you for sharing your methods and progress! What is the % of your food forest slope? I have 15%, 30% and even 50% slopes 😮😅. I am hoping to learn from you how steep is too steep to plant.
Hi Lu and thanks so much! Sorry about the delayed response, I had to find my maps! I’m used to dealing in degrees and had to convert to %, so I think this is right: the food forest is mostly around 22-32% with some steeper sections of up to around 36%. We have a very steep almost cliff section that I can’t mow as it’s too steep so I planted a Moreton bay fig which has an extensive root system and will hopefully help hold the ground together. You could use a similar species to help stabilise your steeper slopes (think invasive roots that will spread horizontally versus a long tap root which can blow over more easily in a storm). Hope this helps and all the best with your plantings! Alex 🌱🌿🌳
Beautiful, and well expained! I love that you are taking wildlife into consideration.
Thank you very much! 💚
Brilliant, well done. I've not thought of the different needs when the slope is great. I just assumed swales were the way to go.This system is amazing.
Thanks so much for your comment. Sometimes the frustrations of a limited budget and challenging terrain can be a blessing in disguise - we are forced to work with what we’ve got! 💚
what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns
Great work, thank you for sharing.
Fantastic work. Thank you for sharing this concept.
Thank you and a pleasure Adam! Alex 💚🌿
Hiii!! Love this video! Please make more videos like this thank you!!!
Thanks so much Sophia! 💚🌿
Nice to get some more Aussie content. We have a similar ex grazed landscape of 25 acres on the NSW south coast and will be starting our permaculture journey with a heavy focus on syntropic agroforestry. Look forward to checking out the rest of your videos.
Wonderful!! I look forward to hearing about your progress and wishing you all the very best! Alex 💚🌿
I like this very much. I look forward to seeing updates!
🪲💚🍃💦🦜🌿🌳🌾
Thank you!
Thank you so much Louise!! Best wishes, Alex 🌱💚🌿
Absolutely excellent description of the bio-mechanics of your project. Very much appreciated!
Wow, thank so much! Appreciate your comment, Alex 💚🌿
I love your Hill! Lots of good ideas
Thank you! 💚🌿
I hope we get to see your future forest mature more and more
Absolutely brilliant system, so clever and simple, congratulations to you. I wish more Australian farmers would copy this.
Thanks so much Joshua! Much appreciated. It will be interesting to see how the system develops over time. Alex 💚🌿
So good to see a great retreating project! Really good methods to see and share!
Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿
Congrats on your progress! Must be especially rewarding to have propagated these from seed and see the growth now!
Thanks so much Claire! Incredibly rewarding! Best regards, Alex 💚🌿
Such a great video. And wonderful to see Australian videos being made, keep up the great work and keep posting!
Thanks so much Kaz and will do! Kindest regards, Alex 💚🌿
Brilliant, great work!
Thanks very much! Alex 💚🌿
Really well done and full of wisdom. Be blessed
Thank you so much. Alex 💚🌿
Congratulations on setting up a very nice system there. I can see a few small animals and chickens being very happy in that environment in a short time.
Thanks so much John. Yes I can’t wait for some canopy. Have sadly lost some chickens to wedge tail eagles so it will be lovely to see them scratching around the forest floor under the lovely shade and protection of the trees. Alex 💚🌿
Very interesting! Love how you have a variety and have incorporated a bunch of ideas and targets in the design. The bits of shade the hill gets is making a difference in the grass that is mowed, as it is greener than your neighbors hill. Love this so much!
Thank you!
Thanks so much Jotanna! Yes lots of clover and bees which is lovely. Alex 💚🌿
Fantastic, detailed presentation.
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback! Alex 💚🌿
Good work lady.
Good look, Miss!
Thank you! 🌿
This is the way nature dose it ,excellent video.And its so nice to here that your planting species for our beloved koala bears .
Thanks so much for your kind words Margarethe. It’s going to be really important to create some wildlife corridors around this system but it’s a start! Alex 💚🌿
Great work. All the best for future plantings.
Thanks so much Peter! Alex 💚🌿
Great long term system, and very well explained.
Thank you.
You are welcome! Glad it was helpful. Alex 🌿
Well thought out, and the proof's in the pudding - those trees are thriving.
Thanks John! Much appreciated. Alex 💚🌿
Amazing!
Outstanding idea.
Thank you so much! 💚
This is brilliant!
Thank you!
Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿
Great video, thanks
Thank you for sharing
Looking forward.. Good job
Thanks Aron, much appreciated. Alex 🌿
I was wondering if my idea was out there already and if it would work. So happy to find your channel. Thank you, I think it's not only an amazing idea, seeing it working so well is even better.
Wow, amazing! Thank you so much, please let me know how your project progresses. Love to share ideas and inspiration! Alex 🌱💚🌿
@@dreamsofgreen My land is fairly flat but even may work on it. I was thinking of a guy who has land in Texas who is trying to slow water and sink it. it's hills and all and trying to put in dams to slow the water, but they are washing out in heavy rains. i was thinking about ways to slow the water from washing out his dams and using grasses to slow the water down before they got to the wash. deep rooted grasses was where my thoughts went. Maybe you could help him out sounds like you have about the same type of weather too. [ www.youtube.com/@dustupstexas/videos ]
this video of Shaun's is what got me to thinking about using native grasses. especially on the hill sides. ua-cam.com/video/YkqG8Eolg7M/v-deo.html
Watching now..! Thank you so much for sharing 💚
A great Idea Alex
I planted 4 of those Brisbane wattles 12 years ago. then after the bushfires 4 years ago.
After the cockies ate the seeds and spread them
Now I have abt 4,000 of them growing on my place
An amazing pioneer! 💚
Your methods are genius!
Wow, thank so much Shirley! Alex 💚🌿
Super cool. I think a similar system is used in northern Thailand to recharge water back into the hillsides. But adding the trees in the way you did makes it exponentially better.
Thanks so much and didn’t know this was used in northern Thailand! Great to know! Alex 💚🌿
From a very wet & windy Somerset, England - this is a fascinating video 🙂
Thank you so much Kevin. I hope you get a sunny day soon! Alex 🌿
Really interesting and informative video. Thanks very much.
A pleasure Mathew! Thanks for watching. Alex 💚🌿
Thank you so much for this video, I have learned so much of this.
That’s wonderful Agnes! A pleasure. Alex 💚🌿
Well presented !!!
Inspiring , even for a small plot.
Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿
great video and great ideas! Also it looks really cool
Thanks so much! Alex 🌿
Good stuff, I am doing something very similar on my hillside - very similar climate, though very different part of the world, too. I arrived at quite a similar solution, though mine is way more messy (I've done a few videos on the topic), I just don't mow so there's grass and "weeds", the orchard that was already there, but now also various native volunteers popping up. My land has been more green as a result in recent years but I want to get it all a bit more organised going forward!
Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to following your progress. Just had a quick look and looks so green and lush! Best wishes with your project - love the structure too. Alex 🌿
Thank you so much for this information 🙏🏻 we have 2 acres on the Toowoomba range and I have been trialling many methods to reforest our very steep slope with endemic rainforest species, with very little success. I am very excited to implement this at our place.
Fantastic! My pleasure. Wishing you all the best with your property! Alex 🌿
Fantastic!
Thank you Carole! 🌿
Awesome video! thank you
Thanks so much for watching! Alex 🌿
Quality video, thank you
Thank you so much! Alex 🌿
I think they should do rotational grazing. Destroying the grass is not a good thing. Perhaps add fodder trees that grow quickly and some timber trees..
Yes it’s amazing the difference once the land is allowed to rest and recuperate. Perhaps in the future I can offer to plant some trees. I have so many excess fodder and timber trees that I have propagated, I think this would be a beautiful thing! 😊
love it, thanks!
Thank you! 💚🌿
Yup, looks great. Keep it up.
Thank you! 🌿
Great video. You are my hero.
Wow, thanks! 💚🌿
work of art great job👍
Thank you so much! Alex 🌿
Thank you! Fabulous.
Glad you enjoyed it! Alex 🌿
Nice!
What you're doing is inspiring to say the least. Heroic in my opinion. Hopefully you will set a trend.
Check out Fog-Net water catching systems that are being used in the dryest places on Earth as drinking and irrigation source. Perhaps it will help with the drought situation. It looks simple, and effective. It's just plumbing and plastic netting, so the cost should be negligible.
Best of luck!
Wow! Thank you so much! I hope so too. It’s such a joy to watch a forest grow from seed.. and see the birds come in and the wallabies resting in the shade of the trees. And I will definitely look this up. Thanks for the recommendation, I absolutely love learning about simple technology such as this! Much appreciation, Alex 💚🌿
Very cool!
Hope you can get some perrenial grasses in among that leaf litter also
Looking forward to future updates. I live in Southern England, and even we are suffering with lack of water in some areas. We do not get seasons now, they very often merge. Up in the 70s today when it should be getting colder, and a frost is very rare. When I was growing up frost in September was the norm. Miss the seasonal changes. Some plants and trees do not like the changes either, they need frosts to send them dormant.
Thanks for watching! And sorry to hear of the challenges you are facing. I don’t think we’ve had a ‘normal’ year since we’ve been here.. it’s definitely difficult to plan and so I tried going for maximum diversity to try and maximise my chances of something succeeding! Best wishes to you, Alex 💚🌿
Will be watching. Good luck
Fantastic! My slopes are also too steep for swales and I was leaning towards rows of Vetiver but your idea is so much less work and has worked well. I have access to a spring fed dam so if we have a long, dry spell I could potentially add irrigation if needed too. Thanks a lot for the info.
Wonderful! Great having the spring fed dam as backup too. Wishing you much success with your property! Alex 💚🌿
Great information about bacterial and fungal systems. Super good video!
Thanks so much. Really appreciate your comment! Alex 💚🌿
I'm just sitting by one of my steep slopes by a natural creek over in Nimbin looking at the lush grassy, weedy growth on the banks. I know some weeds, but wondering which ones are natives? Tricky haha
Sounds beautiful! And oh my gosh, I've spent the last three years learning all about the trees and still so many native rainforest species to learn about... We are blessed with the amazing species we have at our doorstep aren't we? And so I haven't even started on the native grasses and ground covers yet!!
Excellent to see this info. I've a similar property and have used basically the same methods (I'm just over the range in Nimbin). Having been here for 30 years I've for some years adopted the practice of only planting in the wet season so never water. People still think Spring is the time for planting (but often our driest season) This is when seed would naturally sprout, ensures a far greater survival rate (less stress), better root systems (roots follow lowering soil moisture down as drier winter/spring progresses) and far less work maintaining watering
Thanks Steph! We’re practically neighbours! This is really reassuring to hear this, thanks for sharing. Your place must look incredible now. I’m sure it must be so rewarding to look back at your old photos and see the beautiful transformation of your land. Alex 💚🌿
Excellent share. Glad you pointed out one of the flaws of swales.
Ask yourself how many tons of topsoil loss on flat land is there when people can't see any soil loss at all?
Therefore, trees are required a what % of slope?
Your land is very similar to ours, with similar challenges. Seven years ago, we cut a total of about 1 kilometer of swales, and we also mow paths the way you are showing. These practices slow down rain runoff to prevent erosion and create a nanoclimate for sheltering saplings. Your video is packed with concrete information. It was wonderful to see how you are taking care of your land with such a clear vision and knowledge.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment. I just subscribed and watched your video on how swales transformed your property after 7 years. I am blown away by the transformation!! You have created an absolute masterpiece. I am so inspired by the beauty of your property. The stonework is magnificent too. I recognise many similar tree species and I hope our property looks this lush one day. Thank you for the inspiration, it has made me so happy to watch this. Alex 🌱💚🌿
@@dreamsofgreen This is wonderful, Alex, that you are already pursuing your dream. We started when we were retired; you have so many many years to "weave" your project to the most amazing "green kimono". My imagination is running wild seeing your property in a near future. It really looks and sounds like you have a very good understanding of what it takes to create your own green, peaceful island. Both my husband and I admire what you have achieved. Your response to my comment warmed my heart. Thank you.
Thank you for your beautiful words. 🙏
Thanks for focused & attention to tree details!🤓 I'm active with Agroforestry (avocation) in SE U.S. as I believe Forests are main solution to restoring our ancestral 'wetter' (& cooler) climates for our benefit now. If I understood you , I heard u have 'rainforest' species...curious to know if your area's original deforestation for cattle farming was main cause of becoming a dry area?🌅
Oh this is fantastic. If you have any links please post them so I can take a look. Always love learning what’s worked and how you manage your agroforestry systems. I also believe they are the solution to restoring our wetter and cooler climates. We are at the base of the Border ranges national park and to the east was once the ‘Big Scrub’ subtropical rainforest where only 1% of the rainforest remains. All I know is on a hot day here when it’s over 40 degrees Celsius in the bare paddock, it’s 10-15 degrees cooler under the canopy of the rainforest species a mere 50m away (Australian black bean, she-oak, silky oak, Moreton bay fig). We also flood so it’s not always dry but I have definitely observed the extreme temperature fluctuations where there is no tree canopy, and thus much higher evaporation rates. Wishing you all the best with your projects and do share! Alex 🌱🌿🌳
My wife loved your place, and your approach to farming. You have a similar approach to mine. Do as little as possible, as "free" as possible, for as much as possible. And make it look awesome, and in such a way that makes people scratch their heads in wonder. LOL
I popped in to share this video (again, I think), with a new set of time stamps. The portion of the video that talks about the phytonutrients in tomatoes grown in the sun and under glass in a greenhouse. (He called them phytochemicals by accident. Oh well.)
2:10:30 to 2:12:30
Thank you so much Bill! Yes, many people do scratch their heads driving past our place!! And I don’t think it’s possible to share the link in the comments I’m afraid..
@@dreamsofgreen That is odd. I have shared them before.
To me, getting people to scratch their heads that way is actually icing on the cake!
BRILLIANT!!!!
Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿
When I was a younger man I had 100 acres near Old Bonalbo. I found specimen Silky Oaks grew very well there. I'm sure you've seen them coming into flower now around the old properties in your district. They would make excellent pioneer trees. They have been long forgotten about as a furniture timber but I have used Silky Oak to build guitars, both solid body and acoustic. I've two under construction at the moment.
I'm now in Burringbar and I've have three grow extremely well [ 200 - 300mm dia in 10 years ] from wind blown seeds. I pot up seedlings when I find them but there's only so many Silky Oaks a man can plant on 1 acre.
Fantastic! I absolutely love this. Great information. We have lots of silky oaks across the road (flowering as we speak!) and the seed drifts across to our paddock and they naturally pop up as the perfect pioneer. I have planted many in my food forest as well as my reforestation areas but will definitely plant more. Wonderful to know you are making guitars from the timber. I read up on them from Rowan Reid’s book “Heartwood”. He is growing them for timber in Victoria. Kind regards, Alex 💚🌿
I admire your approach by creating blady grass "swales" it's way better than Yoeman's approach on steep country with high rainfall. The hardy Silky Oak has a clue to it's capacity to grow well in your conditions in its botanical name. As you probably know it's a Grevillea Robusta ie a resilient and robust tree. More power to your arm ! @@dreamsofgreen
Thanks Andrew. Yes I looked into yeomans approach but for our particular site it wasn’t suitable and we didn’t have the catchment area on just 10 acres. This seems to work well as an alternative and it will be interesting to see the site mature over time
yes to the point very useful content too
Thank you! Alex 💚🌿
. All the colours of the sunset. Very evocative. Please show your mower in action. I’m intrigued.
Haha yes, before I planted all the different varieties of eucalyptus I had no idea! I thought a gumtree is a gumtree.. then all the new seedlings put on their first new growth and I was amazed at the beauty and diversity of colours. And this is a great idea, once the growing season begins and the grass gets up I’ll do a mowing demo through the tree rows. The Razorback is an amazing little machine! 😄🌾🏎️
I wish I could come to AUS in my next life!
It’s a beautiful part of the world I must say! We’re at the foot of the border ranges national park and it’s a magical place to explore. 💚
it's great that you don't irrigate on clay soils its even more important to be wary of manual irrigation because of salt buildup danger but im worried about fire on those little grass strips i hope you fire proof your property for example by having reliable water storages on top of your property, rehydrating the landscape, wish you all the best on your journey to reach your dream!
Yes great suggestions and I agree! Fire is always a threat and now the risk of frost has passed and it warming up, I’m actually going to start mulching a lot of the grass. Thank you so much for your lovely wishes and same to you! Alex 💚🌿
Hey me and my partner are moving to Eden creek in May. She is a herbalist and I am a soil scientist. Would love to do a worker bee weekend for you for some propogation material to get our place started!
Brilliant solution.
Thank you! 🙏
Nice video
Thank you! 🌿