John Ellis

I am anticipating having to run water, however, I'm hoping to optimize my property for the water that is ran. At this point, digging in isn't ideal since it's rocks every other shovel (larger than I can lift). My thought was to create swales that would hold the water, and provide as much evaporation protection as possible. Assming that I'm running water at thetop of each hugelbed - does that change anything?

Thanks,
John

I'm getting ready to rent some heavy equipment in the next month or so to start building out swales and hugelbeds in our front yard. Since we live in Bend, Oregon (zone 6a/b w/ ~1' of rain per year average) and don't have irrigation I would like to make sure that I can leverage these swales and hugelbeds to create a very green and self sustaining environment. I've attached a picture of the swales I'm planning on digging out spread ~20 feet apart.

Looking for critiques on the frequency of the swales, how big the hugelbeds should be, and the most efficient way to water this portion of the property.

Thanks,
John