Tree planting preparation (Sadhana Forest method)

Recycle material and use low-tech techniques to plant trees to:

• Improve irrigation efficiency, • Improve young tree survival rate in harsh environment, • Rehabilitate the Dry Evergreen Tropical Forest (in this case near Auroville, India). Rehabilitation of the forest offers many other benefits such as soil rejuvenation, life-friendly microclimate development, biodiversity enhancement, water retention and so much more.

"If we could only understand what a tree does for us, how beneficial it is to life on earth, we would (as many tribes have done) revere all trees as brothers and sisters." (B. Mollison)

Difficulté

Easy Facile

Durée

1 hour(s) heure(s)

Catégories

Alimentation & Agriculture, Recyclage & Upcycling, Science & Biologie

Coût

0 EUR (€)

Tree, Sadhana en none Technique 0

Introduction

Acknowledgements

The seek for timber and firewood, fights between British and French colonial troops and some government incentive for cash crops for Europe in the early 20th century depleted the native Dry Evergreen Tropical Forest in the region of Pondicherry. Less vegetation coverage combined with heavy rain episodes lead to massive topsoil erosion and transformed the luxuriant ecosystem of the plateau into a dry savannah. This severe degradation of the ecosystem impacted the biodiversity, reduced the water underground levels, reduced fertility, increased surface temperature, degraded the livelihoods and eroded the culture of nature stewardship of the local communities.

Our solution and its expectable benefits

Recycle material and use low-tech techniques to plant trees to:

• Improve irrigation efficiency,
• Improve young tree survival rate in harsh environment,
• Rehabilitate the Dry Evergreen Tropical Forest (in this case near Auroville, India).

Rehabilitation of the forest offers many other benefits such as soil rejuvenation, life-friendly microclimate development, biodiversity enhancement, water retention and so much more.

"If we could only understand what a tree does for us, how beneficial it is to life on earth, we would (as many tribes have done) revere all trees as brothers and sisters." (B. Mollison)

Matériaux

• Parts:
  • (1) Small-diameter pipe (see procedures for details),
  • (1) Rope (use biodegradable rope, e.g. coconut fiber rope),
  • (1) Plastic bottle (recycle);
• Consumables:
  • Soil (e.g. topsoil from other grown trees),
  • Humanure compost,
  • Urine-activated charcoal,
  • Water,
  • Mulching material (corn stalks, rice hulls, hay, straw, dry leaves, Chopped Rameal Wood (CRW, a.k.a. “Bois Raméal Fragmenté” (BRF)) …),
  • Glue (for plastics, e.g. epoxy)

Outils

• Tools:
  • (1) Knife,
  • (1) tube (probably 40 cm diameter);

Étape 1 - Preliminary requirements

Étape 2 - Analyze the topography of the terrain / identify slope

Étape 3 - Define where you want to plant the tree

Étape 4 - Build a mound

1. Install the tube on the planting zone,
2. Dig dirt from uphill part of the planting zone,
3. Add the dirt around the tube to form a mound (looks like a volcano),
4. Add humanure, urine-activated charcoal and soil (e.g. topsoil from other grown trees) in the tube;

Étape 5 - Dig a hole in the soil mix (humanure, urine-activated charcoal, topsoil) in the tube

Make sure that the hole is big enough. The bottle-irrigation system and sapling with its root system must fit in the hole. If needed, make the hole bigger.

Étape 6 - If not done yet, build the bottle-irrigation system

1. Collect the material:
   1. Get a plastic bottle from trash, wasteland or nature directly,
   2. Get a rope,
   3. Get a pipe (ideally same diameter as the rope, length < 10 cm; adapt the procedure in accordance with locally-available material);
2. Assemble the rope and the pipe:
   1. Install the rope inside the pipe,
   2. Make a knot on the rope at the first end of the pipe,
3. Make a knot on the rope at second end of the pipe,
4. Assemble the pipe and the plastic bottle:
   1. Measure the diameter of the pipe,
   2. Make a hole the size of the diameter of the pipe at the bottom of the plastic bottle,
   3. Install the pipe + rope assembly in the bottom of the plastic bottle,
   4. Use glue to assemble the pipe + rope assembly with the plastic bottle,
   5. Wait for the glue to dry;

Make sure that the knot is bigger than the diameter of the pipe. If not, make more knots.

Make sure that both knots are tight against the ends of the pipe. The objective is to use capillarity to irrigate the tree over a long period of time. If the knots are not tight against the ends of the pipe, the water might leak from the bottle. If the water leaks from the bottle, the bottle will lose water quicker and the tree will receive water for a shorter period. Capillarity is a physical phenomenon. As a result: if the moisture level in the soil is the same as in the bottle, water will not move from the bottle to the soil, irrigation will stop. If the moisture level in the bottle is lower than the moisture level in the bottle, water will move from the bottle to the soil, irrigation will flow.

Étape 7 - Fill the plastic bottle with water to make sure that there are no leaks

1. If the plastic bottle leaks, add glue,
2. If the pipe leaks, make a tight knot,
3. Else: good job, you will make your tree happy 😊
4. Tighten the cap to close the bottle;

Étape 8 - Assemble the bottle-irrigation system with the sapling

Make sure that the rope from the bottle-irrigation system goes around the root system of the tree.

Étape 9 - Apply the “plant a tree” procedure to install the sapling and the bottle-irrigation system in the tube in the mound

Link to procedure

Étape 10 - Remove the tube

Étape 11 - Frequently examine the moisture level

Notes et références

= FAQ & Troubleshooting? =

This procedure seems over-complicated, is it really needed?

There are as many tree planting procedures as tree planters… this procedure is the one Sadhana Forest recommends for severely degraded areas in Dry Tropical climates. Once succession started, there is no need for such a heavy process and one can plant without mounds and bottle irrigation. Feel free to read our blogpost about Sadhana Forest  for more information.

I also recommend the straightforward tree planting procedure that Aranya farm recommends. Refer to the applicable procedure  for more information. Feel free to read our blogpost about the Permaculture Design Course at Aranaya Farm  for more information.

My place is so clean, I do not have plastic bottles polluting my environment, what can I do?

First, feel good about it. Second, refer to the procedure about clay pot irrigation system .

= Go further… =

Please share with us with your remarks, comments, improvements, achievements, etc. Trees are so important for so many reasons. They play an active role in the water cycle, in protecting and building soils, in hosting and enhancing biodiversity, in sequestering carbon and so much more. The impacts of deforestation are well-documented: erosion, soil salination, soil acidification, desertification… which lead to water scarcity, famine, conflicts, migrations… Planting trees is our human duty

DIY tutorial “Tree planting (Aranya method)” procedure:

DIY tutorial “clay pot irrigation system (Aranya method)”:

Blogpost about Sadhana Forest:

Blogpost about the Permaculture Design Course at Aranaya Farm:

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