Tag Archives: swale

9 New Fruit Trees and New Swale – 3/12/2022

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I dug a new swale just downhill from my first swale. It is a few inches lower than the top swale, but won’t fill until the top swale is filled nearly full. I’ll add rocks in the area where they are connected to resist erosion.

New Swale dug to promote in-soak– Looking South
New Swale dug to promote in-soak– Looking South
Existing swale in foreground, new swale in background – looking east
new swale connects near middle of old swale – looking north

I planted 9 new fruit trees on the downhill side of the new swale. Here are the types and varieties of the trees:

  • Ichi-Ki-Kei-Jiro Asian Persimmon (Grafted)
  • Saijo Asian Persimmon (Grafted)
  • Moonglow Pear Standard
  • Stark® Honeysweet Pear Dwarf
  • Starking® Hardy Giant™ Asian Pear Semi-Dwarf
  • Dapple Dandy Pluot® Standard
  • Flavor King Pluot® Standard
  • Starking® Delicious™ Pear Dwarf
  • Anjou Pear Semi-Dwarf

Swale Updates

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My new swale did a good job slowing down water runoff and promoting water insoak, but it needed to be tweaked a little to transform it from just a ditch to a gentle slope that we can take care of with the riding mower. I used a box blade on the tractor to even everything out. We also buried a 4-inch drain pipe and covered it with crushed rock. I’ll encourage grass to grow on top of the rock. All the trees I’ve transplanted seem to be doing great.

  • drainage ditch feeding swale
  • swale looking to the south
  • pop up emitter from 4″ drain pipe
  • one of several fig trees planted in swale
  • swale looking to the north

Hachiya and Honan Red Persimmon Trees Planted

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I planted 2 bare-rooted persimmon trees that I bought from Trees of Antiquity in California. One of the trees is Hachiya, which someone said was their favorite flavor, and the other is a Honan Red. I put them in the same swale where I have my fig trees on the east side of the house. See the interactive map for the location.

  • 2 new persimmon trees (bare root)
  • Honan Red Persimmon
    Honan Red Persimmon
  • Hachiya Persimmon

Pics of Swale After Rain

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  • swale – looking to the south
  • swale – looking to the north

The new swale was holding back a lot of water when I checked it this morning after a 2-inch rain. It looks like it worked exactly as designed– it slowed down the water runoff, and let the water sit long enough to allow insoak. The fig trees I just planted on the high end will have access to huge amounts of water stored in the soil for weeks to come. The standing water should disappear in a few days, so the risk of mosquitoes laying viable eggs is small.

Swale and fig trees

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I created a swale (AKA ditch-on-contour) to catch the runoff water that flows behind and around our house. I transplanted the 11 fig trees I started from cuttings last year on the high side of the swale. The idea is to slow down the water and let it soak into the soil. After a big rain, this area might look like a pond for several days. All that water eventually moves down into the soil where plants can use it for weeks or months after, reducing the need to use extra water.