So here's the completed dead wood swale. As you can see- it looks like a small hill with herbs planted and then some mulch we freed from my neighbors bulk pick up. Or alternately- you would have no idea we buried a bunch of wood under here. Which I guess is the point. That herb on the end is citronella- the mosquito repellent. You can also see a stepping stone I made with some old broken pottery and cheap cement. I used a large plastic take-out container as the mold for that one- but it didn't work as well as the mold I bought to make stepping stones.
If digging a huge trench isn't your thing, you can also just make an above ground branch pile and put soil on it. Otherwise known as a hugelkultur. I like to call it a Hoggle after that gremlin from the Labyrinth. For some reason the 80s come up excessively in this blog. Hoggles are suppose to be great for growing potatoes. I am planning to try it next time since my last method of potato growing didn't work out too well.
"Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems."- The Labyrinth Tagline
We just watched Labyrinth last night. "Hoggles is Hoggle's friend!"
ReplyDeleteKeep up updated on how often you have to water the plants in your swale. I'm thinking of redoing some of our raised beds and putting some old logs underneath.