Duncan Blake

ALL,
I would not recommend to build a hugelkultur / swale combo (hugel swale) until you review this article:
http://permaculturenews.org/2015/11/06/dont-try-building-hugel-swales-this-is-a-very-and-i-mean-very-bad-idea/

Eric Hammond wrote:You could do a series of "fish scale" swales around each tree. Each tree area gets its own swale and can be planted as a guild. Each swale can then be at different contours but the "arms" of the tallest swales can overflow into the next swale.

I didn't think about the small fish scale swales as the first layer of swales, and having them empty out into the standard full contour swale below that. The only issue I foresee in that is still running into the sprinkler pipes and heads when doing these scale swales, if i was to keep the 5 sprinkler heads on the hillside.

Eric Hammond wrote:As a side note make sure the back cut the bench you house sits on correctly. It should slope away from your house and to the retaining wall and then flow out and around your hhous through a small channel . If this isn't done correctly and you start putting in swales where your are you may create water and moisture problems in your house

Would you mind re-wording what you meant above?
I'm assuming you meant something along the lines of making sure there is a back cut to the swales for erosion prevention purposes and make sure the level spill ways for the swale(s) exit or are channeled away from the house and to the side so I don't have any water damage to the house.

Jami,
Thanks for the input, I was thinking the same thing for some rocks to create a waterfall/riverbed type situation. I would have to do some research to see how hard it would be to move the citrus trees and if they could survive the move if I did decide to move them to the bottom of the yard, and I would love to plant some figs and many more plants, but that is for a later time and topic. I'll try and keep an update on this swale(s) for now as I haven't been able to get back to them yet.

-Duncan

Good day Permies,
First post, so here I go. Quick background: I have been very much interested in the techniques and teachings of Permaculture and have been educating myself through online videos and information for the past couple years now. I have purchased my first house in southern California and purchased a house on 1/3 acre, and am starting from scratch as the yard (especially backyard) is bare.

I have a steep slope in the back yard about 16' deep x 65' long (more or less) with a retaining wall at the bottom, the house came with 5 small citrus trees laid out horizontally spread across the back slope, which has a turn towards the front of the house at the top. In preference to the steepness of the hill and the coming El Nino rains ahead I would like to do two swales on this slope. Unfortunately, the small citrus trees are not perfectly on contour and when I used my A-Frame level and marked out the contour of the swale it did not line up with them. Meaning that the one tree is in front of the berm, the second is in the berm, the third/fourth/fifth tree are in the path of the swale itself. While starting to dig the swale (since its my first) I've encountered some issues which are listed below.

Issue #1:
While digging, I have hit (and broke) a sprinkler line which feeds these trees, however this sprinkler line follows the trees and in doing so passes from in front of the berm, to into the berm, crosses the swale to the backside of the swale.

Issue #2:
while digging out the swales themselves, it was going to prove harsh on the trees that are located in the path of the swales as I was going to be digging below their crown, which would most likely kill the small trees in the end.

Issue #3: Need to design best possible way to have spillway / sill leave the hillside and to get down over retaining wall.
- There is a sloped section of the retaining wall on the right that comes down to ground level on the right hand side, but bypasses the rest of the backyard completely.
- There is an already eroded part of the retaining wall/slope on the left which can possibly be piled with rocks to prevent erosion

Options:
1# - Dig the swale as intended, removing the sprinkler line across the hill and trees ultimately as citrus require large amounts of water which would be better placed on the flat portion of the back yard.

2# - Redesign and relocated the swales, have a very small short swale in the corner of the hill and possibly two thin swales below the citrus trees.

3# - Other?

some pre-conceived thoughts:
- Swales filled with wood chips and be large enough for a pathway on the hillside
- spillway / sill for top swale be located on the right and second swale spillway / sill to be located on left that can drain through a rocks as it makes its way over the retaining wall to diminish erosion.


Thank you everyone, hope to hear some personal experiences on swales on steep slopes and also others encounters with irrigation lines and pipes