Steve Farmer

false pepper, almond, loquat, prickly pear, date palm, moringa (needs irrigation first year), mulberry, wild lemon
not fruiting but maybe throw in some yuccas as these are ultra drought tolerant and useful shade/windbreak/fence.

Maybe a phone call or a visit with his permission could be even more useful to him. If someone needed to ask for help for travel expenses for a long drive then that might be an equally effective way of spending the generosity his permies.com friends have expressed. Maybe his wife could also do with knowing there are a lot of people out there rooting for them, and who care enough to make something happen?

Do you know the original rationale for building on raised mounds? Can you fill in between the mounds so the trees are no longer raised, even if gradually over the course of one or two growing seasons?

My experience is growing hybrid poplar OP367.


The size of cutting doesn't matter as long as it contains at least two buds.

I put the cuttings vertical in water with the water level just below the top bud. You can leave them there till you see roots or you can plant them in the ground if it's not too hot and dry where you are. Plant with the top bud just above ground level and make sure the soil doesn't dry out.


You could go for a misting system and/or use an air pump to aerate the water while the cuttings are soaking. It isn't necessary but will give faster rooting.

Let us know how you get on and post some pics.

If efficiency is measured in terms of carbohydrate formed per CO2 molecule then I believe that all plants are equally as efficient.
Photosynthesis efficiency is usually discussed in terms of CO2 to carbohydrate conversion per amount of light, which varies greatly between plants and also depends on temperature, water availability, light intensity & and concentration of CO2. So one plant type might be more efficient under low light whereas another is more efficient under intense light.


C4 photosynthesis is more light efficient than C3 and works better under extremes of high light and low CO2. But it's not just the efficiency that you will find in science literature as this relates to what happens when a photon hits a leaf. You also need to consider that if a photon is not used by a leaf it may then strike another leaf and be used. Thus photosynthesis is often said to be 3 or 4% efficient but the whole plant may achieve an efficiency of double or triple that, in act nearly rivalling photovoltaic panels in terms of their efficiency in converting photons to energy, with the added benefit that PV panels don't store energy whereas plants convert it into stored chemical energy ie carbohydrate. Solar panels to save the world? No thanks I'd rather have trees.

I don't think I ever wasn't a permie, although I may have temporarily lost my way.

Rakibul. I don't advise trying to make your own car head gasket. They are subject to oil, water, coolant, steam, and hydrocarbon fuels, at a variety of temperatures, pressures and viscosities, and have to be the exact right thickness under a reasonable amount of compression from the head bolts. For this reason they are made of a composite of various materials. And they are cheap to buy. If you really can't get hold of the correct gasket then a an emergency repair can be made by using head gasket substitute from a tube but it's a last resort and not a "repair". If you try to make your own gasket, or use gasket substitute long term, you will destroy your engine.

Would trees be ok on a leach field if they were coppiced regularly?

I remember a neighbour putting his trees and plants on a huge bonfire, to my horror as someone who is appalled by the lack of green in my area. The next morning, I raked the fire and rescued several yucca trees and aloe veras and agaves that just looked a bit charred. Almost all the yuccas grew again when I replanted them and around half the aloes and agaves. I suspect you could have a forest of yucca in the driest and hottest desert, and they wouldn't burn.

Agree with Ben, good chance it's a delonix regia also known as red flame tree and often wrongly called a jacaranda. A possibly boring fact about the delonix regia is that it is a legume but it doesn't fix nitrogen, I believe the only example of a non nitrogen fixing legume known to mankind. You could dig the roots and if you find N fixing nodules you know it ISNT a D Regia.

This tree is definitely some kind of legume tree in the Pea family. I tend towards D regia due to the leaf shape which is slightly different and more regular than other similar trees such as acacia, palo verde, mesquite and Leucaena Leucocephala.Also the others mentioned will flower when only months old and knee high, whilst the D Regia can take longer to reach flowering age.