Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, when I was researching I found it helpful if videos were around the 10min mark give or take so I could quickly absorb some information while I was taking a tree planting break! Alex 🌱🌿

what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns

​@@lauralee6628in areas of lower rainfall (assuming you do get big rain events) don't you just need to space the swales further apart on the slope and dig them larger to catch a larger volume of water?

that may work = however is not unknown to 2 years or more with no significant rainfall in all parts of australia with less than 700 mm rainfall = you can get some tree crops to survive but not all tree crops = to date no viable working model to verify the efficiency of swales in areas with 700mm or less rainfall = if we give you 1000 hectares and $10,000,000 at goondiwindi (in 550 mm rainfall) how much income can you earn from a $10,000,000 land development investment with tree crops grown on swales ?? without stored water in tanks ???

@@lauralee6628 that's a good question, one I am not equipped to answer. When you mentioned regions with 700mm per year, I was assuming even a drought year would be at least 300mm

Thanks so much Ben! Will do! Alex 🌿

Now that's funny because I thought it was an Australian who pioneered permaculture and I'm in the U.S. Maybe I'm confusing it with polyculture.

I have the opposite experience so I feel for you 😂 permaculture originated with Bill Mollison, who is Australian. There is a huge community there. Milkwood is a well known one as well as Zaytuna farm which is run by Geoff Lawton to name a few. I hope you find more resources! Good luck!

Polyculture Farms is an aussi channel. You can see insane progress on the channel

Thanks very much! This is great to know you are thinking along the same lines. Have you been working on a project of your own? Love to hear about your experience. Wishing you all the best! 🌿🌾

@@dreamsofgreen Thankfully, I live in a wet area so holding onto water really isn't necessary. For me, it's about using native plants to encourage wildlife to hang around and eat the pests in the garden. I know a lot of folks are jumping on the Vetiver grass bandwagon, thinking it's all the rage and the perfect solution, but I've come to prefer using native grasses because they help in ways that Vetiver cannot - like producing food and homes for the native animals that have evolved in this area. In Australia, for example, you have a ton of clumping grasses that work much the same as Vetiver. The Lomandra species not only form a nice clump, but have quite a tough rooting habit that binds the soil so it can't wash away easily. That the local wildlife has evolved to use the plant means that you're adding to the food web rather than introducing a grass that does nothing for the ecological system of the area. When planted close together to form a tight line, clumping grasses like the Lomandra or Poa look absolutely fantastic as a hedge and really add to the value of the homestead. That they also form a filter that slows surface water runoff is a bonus. Who wouldn't love a hedge of Festuca Glauca or Poa Poiformis around their back garden? Throw in a few Lomandra Longifolia for good measure and you've got a hedgerow that's both attractive and functional. Mix it up with some Orthosanthus Multiflorus 'Morning Iris' every few feet and you've got a design that'd make all the neighbors jealous, for sure. And best of all, they're all native plants that have evolved to live in the conditions you have on hand. That means you need to do less work to maintain them, and they work for you to help build the soil biome with their root structures while also fulfilling their role in the local food web. Around my neck of the woods, we use clumping grasses like Panicum Virgatum and Andropogon Gerardii to do the same thing. While non-native plants might accomplish one thing, like preventing erosion, because they didn't evolve here, they pretty much create a black hole in the food web. Sure, they might root deep, like the Vetiver, and help stop erosion, but that's all they do. They can't feed the local songbirds and pollinators because the two didn't evolve together, and without food.... well, it's no wonder we've lost more than 30,000,000 songbirds since the 70's when non-native plants became all the rage in the horticulture industry. Those non-native plants stay looking pretty because insects don't nibble on the leaves. But without insects, there are no soft protein sources for the songbirds to feed their chicks in the nest. No food for the baby birds doesn't generally work out well, as I'm sure you can imagine. Anyhow, kudos to you for thinking outside the box. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with next!

Thanks so much for this really interesting and informative reply. You make some really great points. The lomandra are used extensively around here for exactly that - erosion control on creek banks and steep slopes. Thanks also for mentioning the other species, I’ll look them up as there are many grasses I’m not familiar with. That’s a devastating loss of songbirds by the way. Watching all the birds come back into the tree rows has been such a joy. Of course there’s great uses for vetiver, however I didn’t use it as I had an abundance of other native clumping grasses that were already thriving and the birds were loving it! Thanks again, I’ve enjoyed reading. Alex

@@dreamsofgreen Dr. Doug Tallamy has one a few videos here on KZfaq where he talks about the real-world costs of planting non-native plants in our yards. Something like 70% of our ecosystems have been replaced with things that haven't evolved in that local area, so it causes something of an invisible cascade failure in the whole chain of life. 90% of birds require soft protein sources like caterpillars to feed their chicks in the nest, and just one nest can require more than 4000 caterpillars to reach maturity. Since we've opted to use non-native species in our yards to the degree we have, that means the local insects not only can't eat them because they don't recognize them as a food source, but everything that eats the insects then has far less food for their young. Non-natives like Vetiver might work great to help with erosion control, and even provide fodder for livestock, they are basically "inert" in the landscape. Planting things that are native to the region, however, can host dozens of different insects that serve as the foundation of the food chain much like how plankton works in the oceans. Often, we don't even understand the complexity of what the native plants are doing. Bunch Grasses, like the Lomandra or Festuca, also produce tons of nutrient-rich mulch every year. Because they tend to root down deeper in the strata, they are mining minerals that aren't usually available to plants that have a shallower rooting habit. When their leaves are then used as mulch, that wider array of nutrients then becomes available to other plants, increasing the health of the plants and the taste of their fruits. Folks get so fixated on NPK that they forget there are a bazillion other nutrients needed for a healthy plant, just like with people. I always recommend the grasses be cut to the crown at the beginning of the dry season. Not only does the mulch help to retain soil moisture, but removing the standing dead stalks will greatly reduce the fire hazard by making it harder to catch alight. Combined with the increased soil moisture means that fires are far less likely to take hold.

Thanks for this, I’ll look him up! Again, I’ve learnt so much from one post from you. I agree - this NPK fixation! And love the last paragraph too. Great information. I’m just starting to cut back the grass around the trees for mulch and to start reducing fire risk. Thanks again, Alex 😊

Thank you so much! I wish you every success in your chosen career, I’m sure it will be very rewarding for you! Best wishes, Alex 🌿

Thanks so much for sharing, wonderful to know you’ve been doing this for the last 25 years and it works! Kind regards, Alex 💚🌿

That’s wonderful Sharon! If you are ever over Kyogle way, send me an email at alex@dreamsofgreen.com.au. I’d be happy to show you around. Best wishes for your property!! Alex 🌿

@@dreamsofgreen Thank you Alex, I will definitely take you up on that offer! I lived in Lismore for 18 months, such a special place and area you live in. My Mum is at Goonellebah so next time I visit her, I’ll come see you too 😃

Thanks so much Scott! 🌿

Agree 100%. Sadly the average age of a cattle farmer in Australia is 61 years old and most have a day job. There is a new generation of regenerative farmers coming through (for example, southern cross university in Australia is now offering regenerative farming degrees). I’m optimistic that the methods you describe above will become the ‘new normal’.

what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns

@@dreamsofgreen that’s awesome news. I have hopes that the idea spreads far and wide. Even from an economic view its a no brainer. Improved pastures mean one of two things, either you can successfully run m,ore head on the same amount of land or with extra forage, you can get calves up to market weight sooner in the season and thus command a premium price for them.

Absolutely!

Have to wait for trees to mature a bit.otherwise the cows will eat them.

Thank you so much Deborah. It’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. 💚

Wow, thanks so much. It’s been so rewarding seeing it transform! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much! Yes, exactly my goals for this system 😄 It’s a ‘how to swale when you can’t swale’ type of set-up. 🌿

@@dreamsofgreen Honestly, I would probably swale that way even if earth works was an option, now that I've seen it. I love things that require less work; not more. Here is a link to the channel my wife made for videos of the farm: kzfaq.info/love/H57pOwu07Sy7Fc8EQxkr8Q Thanks for sharing what you are doing. It truly was inspiring.

Well I can’t use my hands to dig a hole like you can in the beautiful soil you created! I think you’ve done a remarkable job with the use of swales. Thanks for the link, watching now!

@@dreamsofgreen I had a foot or two of mulch on the front yard for almost a year before I made my way out there. I was working in the back yard first. My wife's crew would fill garbage cans with weeds, and grasses, and stomp them down. When they got them here, they came out in garbage can shaped grass pills. The funniest looking things you've ever seen. I just had them cover the whole yard with them without fluffing them at all. What a shade cover! In addition to shade, and the automatic drip system it activates, the microbes at the surface (the O-Horizon layer) break down the organic matter, and it filters down into the soil. I do almost no work anymore. It is like most things in life. Getting set up requires a lot of project work, but maintenance is easy. When the house is a wreck, the "overhaul" is a huge project. But, if you do it well, keeping things tidy is not all that hard. You just have to be at it daily. I started and ran the yardwork business for years before my wife took it over. I learned how to get weeds out. Bermuda grass is abundant here, and it is hard to get out. Especially in our clay soil. (Ok, not clay...concrete!) LOL When I see the rare weed now, I pull on it, and a foot or more of weed and root just gently comes out...easily! It is dazzlingly amazing! Especially after years of experience sweating them out before. The mulch makes the microbes happier, allowing more fungi to grow, which changes the bacteria to fungus ration to change. This actually makes it horrible soil for weeds to grow in. They crave bacterial dominant soil.

Love this. Such an amazing transformation. Thank you so much for sharing. I can’t wait until I have a forest floor to walk along! 🌱🌿🌳

Thanks so much Garrett. I can’t wait to see the rainforest species take off! I’ve got some really beautiful native species in there so it will be interesting to see how the forest develops over time. Alex 🌱😊

Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Yes I think silvopasture has so many amazing benefits! Thanking you again, Alex 🌿

what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns

Check Jeff Lawton's (also an Australian) work about swales. Jeff's work relies on digging along contour lines, while this one looks for ways not to dig. But compared to terraces, both are interesting to find out about. I built dry stone walls in Dordogne (France) and I agree - labour is hard to find, and nobody would want to pay me at the level of expertise + amount of time this takes! But it fitted the lifestyle of those who built it: out in the field all the time, shifting the stones out of the cultivated areas and reserving them for the walls, using patience over generations rather than fast investment of money and (fossil) energy. If you wanted to machine-build terraces cheaply and fast, buy cages made from iron wiring (from the sort of iron bars made to reinforce concrete?) Then you plonk the cages at the bottom end of your terrace, throw the stones in and back-fill with soil - or, slowly back fill with soil as you sift the stones out. Old terrace builders will scream that you are destroying the landscape, but you get a similar result in months, instead of decades, and you can do most of the work with a digger! Ready stone-filled cages also exist, but of course you have more stones on site than you know what to do with already :)

Thank you so much and wishing you all the very best with your property! Kindest regards, Alex 💚🌿

Thanks for watching! 🌿

Thank you so much for sharing!! So good knowing you’ve had success with this. My rows are also on average about 4m apart but the steeper areas closer and the flatter areas a bit further apart. Really appreciate you sharing. Best regards for your property, Alex 💚🌿

Yes it’s such a balance with the grass. I’ve had a couple of seedlings ‘pruned’ by wallabies but luckily they bounced back. The grass basket system seems to work well for me, where I clear around the trunk and use the cut grass as mulch, then tie the surrounding long grass over the seedling to form a shelter. This was my solution in the tree rows as I couldn’t afford thousands of tree guards and wooden stakes! Wishing you much success Franek and I hope you’re able to get your trees established. Best regards, Alex 🌿🌳

thank you @@dreamsofgreen

Thanks so much for your encouragement Matt! You live in a beautiful part of the world. Any questions or support I can offer please feel free to reach out. Many of the species I’m using up in Kyogle would work for you too. All the best with your project! Alex 🌿

Oh fantastic Claudia! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions and I wish you all the best on your property. Happy planting! 🌱💚🌿

Many thanks. I'll be sure to get in touch if I have questions

You are so welcome! Feel free to reach out if I can help you at all. Wishing you all the best with your property! Alex 🌳🌳🌳

Hi Lu and thanks so much! Sorry about the delayed response, I had to find my maps! I’m used to dealing in degrees and had to convert to %, so I think this is right: the food forest is mostly around 22-32% with some steeper sections of up to around 36%. We have a very steep almost cliff section that I can’t mow as it’s too steep so I planted a Moreton bay fig which has an extensive root system and will hopefully help hold the ground together. You could use a similar species to help stabilise your steeper slopes (think invasive roots that will spread horizontally versus a long tap root which can blow over more easily in a storm). Hope this helps and all the best with your plantings! Alex 🌱🌿🌳

Thank you so much for your lovely comment! What a great suggestion! 💚🌿

Wow, thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement! Alex 💚🌿

My pleasure and thank you Wendy! 🙏🌿

Thank you very much! 💚

Thanks so much Tom. Appreciate your comment. Best wishes, Alex 🌿

Thank you and a pleasure Adam! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿

Wow, thank so much! Appreciate your comment, Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much Kaz and will do! Kindest regards, Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much. Alex 💚🌿

Thanks Peter. I like less effort! I’ll do a demo on the mower once the grass gets up too. Best regards, Alex 🌿

Thanks so much Joshua! Much appreciated. It will be interesting to see how the system develops over time. Alex 💚🌿

You are welcome! Glad it was helpful. Alex 🌿

Thanks so much Claire! Incredibly rewarding! Best regards, Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much for your comment. Sometimes the frustrations of a limited budget and challenging terrain can be a blessing in disguise - we are forced to work with what we’ve got! 💚

what few people realise is that swales only work where there is high rainfall - and even fewer people successfully manage them over the decades - SO FAR there are no viable swale/tree crop constructs anywhere on australia with less than 650 mm annual rainfall - if there are any the total area would be a few hectares - which is too small to be viable - anyone who tells you otherwise is trading in unicorns

Thank you! 💚🌿

That’s wonderful Agnes! A pleasure. Alex 💚🌿

Wonderful!! I look forward to hearing about your progress and wishing you all the very best! Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much John. Yes I can’t wait for some canopy. Have sadly lost some chickens to wedge tail eagles so it will be lovely to see them scratching around the forest floor under the lovely shade and protection of the trees. Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much Sophia! 💚🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much Louise!! Best wishes, Alex 🌱💚🌿

Thanks very much! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you!

Thanks so much Jotanna! Yes lots of clover and bees which is lovely. Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much Peter! Alex 💚🌿

A pleasure Mathew! Thanks for watching. Alex 💚🌿

Fantastic! My pleasure. Wishing you all the best with your property! Alex 🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much for the lovely feedback! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much! 💚

Thanks so much for your kind words Margarethe. It’s going to be really important to create some wildlife corridors around this system but it’s a start! Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much! Alex 🌿

Thank you so much Kevin. I hope you get a sunny day soon! Alex 🌿

Wow, thank so much Shirley! Alex 💚🌿

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to following your progress. Just had a quick look and looks so green and lush! Best wishes with your project - love the structure too. Alex 🌿

Wow, amazing! Thank you so much, please let me know how your project progresses. Love to share ideas and inspiration! Alex 🌱💚🌿

@@dreamsofgreen My land is fairly flat but even may work on it. I was thinking of a guy who has land in Texas who is trying to slow water and sink it. it's hills and all and trying to put in dams to slow the water, but they are washing out in heavy rains. i was thinking about ways to slow the water from washing out his dams and using grasses to slow the water down before they got to the wash. deep rooted grasses was where my thoughts went. Maybe you could help him out sounds like you have about the same type of weather too. [ www.youtube.com/@dustupstexas/videos ]

this video of Shaun's is what got me to thinking about using native grasses. especially on the hill sides. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j9Ghept21NLLZ4E.html

Watching now..! Thank you so much for sharing 💚

Thanks John! Much appreciated. Alex 💚🌿

Thanks so much and didn’t know this was used in northern Thailand! Great to know! Alex 💚🌿

Wonderful! Great having the spring fed dam as backup too. Wishing you much success with your property! Alex 💚🌿

Thanks Aron, much appreciated. Alex 🌿

Thank you! 🌿

An amazing pioneer! 💚

Thank you! 💚🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 🌿

Thanks so much for watching! Alex 🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 🌿

Thank you Carole! 🌿

Thanks Steph! We’re practically neighbours! This is really reassuring to hear this, thanks for sharing. Your place must look incredible now. I’m sure it must be so rewarding to look back at your old photos and see the beautiful transformation of your land. Alex 💚🌿

Glad you enjoyed it! Alex 🌿

Thank you! 🌿

Yes it’s amazing the difference once the land is allowed to rest and recuperate. Perhaps in the future I can offer to plant some trees. I have so many excess fodder and timber trees that I have propagated, I think this would be a beautiful thing! 😊

Wow, thanks! 💚🌿

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment. I just subscribed and watched your video on how swales transformed your property after 7 years. I am blown away by the transformation!! You have created an absolute masterpiece. I am so inspired by the beauty of your property. The stonework is magnificent too. I recognise many similar tree species and I hope our property looks this lush one day. Thank you for the inspiration, it has made me so happy to watch this. Alex 🌱💚🌿

​@@dreamsofgreen This is wonderful, Alex, that you are already pursuing your dream. We started when we were retired; you have so many many years to "weave" your project to the most amazing "green kimono". My imagination is running wild seeing your property in a near future. It really looks and sounds like you have a very good understanding of what it takes to create your own green, peaceful island. Both my husband and I admire what you have achieved. Your response to my comment warmed my heart. Thank you.

Thank you for your beautiful words. 🙏

Thanks so much. Really appreciate your comment! Alex 💚🌿

I'm just sitting by one of my steep slopes by a natural creek over in Nimbin looking at the lush grassy, weedy growth on the banks. I know some weeds, but wondering which ones are natives? Tricky haha

Sounds beautiful! And oh my gosh, I've spent the last three years learning all about the trees and still so many native rainforest species to learn about... We are blessed with the amazing species we have at our doorstep aren't we? And so I haven't even started on the native grasses and ground covers yet!!

Wow! Thank you so much! I hope so too. It’s such a joy to watch a forest grow from seed.. and see the birds come in and the wallabies resting in the shade of the trees. And I will definitely look this up. Thanks for the recommendation, I absolutely love learning about simple technology such as this! Much appreciation, Alex 💚🌿

Thank you! Alex 💚🌿

Thank you so much! Alex 💚🌿

Thanks for watching! And sorry to hear of the challenges you are facing. I don’t think we’ve had a ‘normal’ year since we’ve been here.. it’s definitely difficult to plan and so I tried going for maximum diversity to try and maximise my chances of something succeeding! Best wishes to you, Alex 💚🌿

Will be watching. Good luck

Oh this is fantastic. If you have any links please post them so I can take a look. Always love learning what’s worked and how you manage your agroforestry systems. I also believe they are the solution to restoring our wetter and cooler climates. We are at the base of the Border ranges national park and to the east was once the ‘Big Scrub’ subtropical rainforest where only 1% of the rainforest remains. All I know is on a hot day here when it’s over 40 degrees Celsius in the bare paddock, it’s 10-15 degrees cooler under the canopy of the rainforest species a mere 50m away (Australian black bean, she-oak, silky oak, Moreton bay fig). We also flood so it’s not always dry but I have definitely observed the extreme temperature fluctuations where there is no tree canopy, and thus much higher evaporation rates. Wishing you all the best with your projects and do share! Alex 🌱🌿🌳

Yes great suggestions and I agree! Fire is always a threat and now the risk of frost has passed and it warming up, I’m actually going to start mulching a lot of the grass. Thank you so much for your lovely wishes and same to you! Alex 💚🌿

Welcome and thank you! Occasionally we get ticks but it’s just part of country life here and we just try to be careful. Although I will say the ticks are the least of our problems when we have brown snakes!! My dear cat would follow me around the paddock keeping watch while I planted trees. Three times he got between me and a brown snake, hissing to warn me. Amazing! And luckily no ticks but we do check him (and ourselves) regularly. Alex 💚🌿

Thank you! 🙏

Fantastic! I absolutely love this. Great information. We have lots of silky oaks across the road (flowering as we speak!) and the seed drifts across to our paddock and they naturally pop up as the perfect pioneer. I have planted many in my food forest as well as my reforestation areas but will definitely plant more. Wonderful to know you are making guitars from the timber. I read up on them from Rowan Reid’s book “Heartwood”. He is growing them for timber in Victoria. Kind regards, Alex 💚🌿

I admire your approach by creating blady grass "swales" it's way better than Yoeman's approach on steep country with high rainfall. The hardy Silky Oak has a clue to it's capacity to grow well in your conditions in its botanical name. As you probably know it's a Grevillea Robusta ie a resilient and robust tree. More power to your arm ! @@dreamsofgreen

Thanks Andrew. Yes I looked into yeomans approach but for our particular site it wasn’t suitable and we didn’t have the catchment area on just 10 acres. This seems to work well as an alternative and it will be interesting to see the site mature over time

Yes!! Love it! I’ll have to do a video of my front slope 😉 I loosely based it on syntropic style rows but on contour, incorporating long term emergent timber species as well as high, medium and low fruit and support trees. I’ve got avos and macadamias with teak and blue quandong, silky oaks and eucalyptus with citrus and pomegranate..grumichama, white sapote, figs and mangoes..with acacias, calliandra and Albizia in the mix. I can’t wait!! It’s only been in the ground less than two years and I’m still finishing it off so a little time yet to be harvesting but it’s been so rewarding seeing it grow. Have you got your own syntropic system set up? If so send me the link, I’d love to see what you’ve done! Thanks so much for the encouragement and all the best, Alex 🌱🥭🌿🥑

Yes vetiver and similar grasses are amazing for stabilising steep slopes! Establishing cover and mulch is key right? It can be so hard getting started with harsh conditions. The acacias really helped me too in getting much need shade quickly. Wishing you all the best with your project and please let me know how it goes! Alex 🌾🌾

@@dreamsofgreen Thanks! Here is not so much the slope but the climate change. I fear we've turned into desertic climate since our rain patterns have changed. Then, any tree we try to grow needs an excessive amount of care and irrigation, and we can't provide neither. Not even for jujubes. The pioneer species here is the carob which is already established in the terrain and we are planning on extending it. We also want to add some moringas and mulberries which are doing great, melias for shade, and rhamnus alaternus, which is a large bush that is already growing lush green. This latter is said to be an useless bush that grows spontaneously in the hills. Precisely what we need: spontaneous growth. Let me decide how useless it is. I proposed the herbs hedge system to help established these trees and for reforestation efforts nearby, but it was received with skepticism; they fear the herbs will reduce the water availability for the trees. I'm glad to see that's not the case. However, I have to wait until december or january. The herb I want to plant can be divided by roots and we have plenty, only not in hedges, but for extracting the roots unharmed I need to wait for a good rainy week.

I love this: ‘let me decide how useless it is’. Brilliant! 😂 That’s exactly what I did, when we were still in drought I drove around to see what was still thriving and collected seed as those were the tough-as-nails species I wanted. Also I had to weigh up competition with water of the grass vs the effects of evaporation. A few 40 degree days in a row and anything not sheltered by grass was dead. So that’s how I decided, just by observing what happened on my own piece of land. You could always set up a side-by-side trial as a test and then observe what works best and go from there. The number of times I’ve been told I was doing it ‘wrong’ or I ‘should do this or that’!! I say there is no one best way. We just learn by trying things with the resources we have available, seeing what works best then repeat! Great also that you’ve got the carob and you know that works. Mulberries have been a stand-out winner for me too but not the moringa sadly. Perhaps it was too wet after the drought broke? I will try again. I’ll look up this bush you mentioned too as I don’t know it. Good luck to you!! 🌿

In Australia Hyparrhenia hirta is called Coolatai Grass. Not recommended, for anything, anywhere on this continent. Plenty of preferable grass and grass like species such as Themeda, Lomandra, Austrostipa, Astrebla, Gahnia, Lepidosperma that are native to place. Investing in invasive is a poor choice here. Planting species native to place should be the go to option for restoring landscape function. The goal is having a fields bursting with possibilities, rather than paddocks of problems.

@@radmckenzie4910 thanks so much for this as I hadn’t heard of it. I’m not sure what grasses we have on our property but just using what was already there. Will be interesting to start identifying them. Thanks again, Alex 🌾