gday all have a small property in riverland sa where currently a bit of rain fall would help there is no power and no water on my place so am investigating ways to reduce water consumption ,there is a small house and rain water tanks but no rain ,all water that I use is repurposed but as I don't live here its not a lot the land is salt bush and dust , im trying to grow some native trees and shrubs ,without much success due to roos and lack off rain maybe 20 survivors out of 60 after year and a half , I have wire guarding and shade cloth for protection on some but mixed results any tips or suggestions of plants that can survive in these conditions would be appreciated greening the desert indeed !
Greetings Grobogro and welcome, Are you using a composting toilet? Composted humanure is great for trees. I live in a semi-arid climate and getting moisture into the soil, then keeping it there is of utmost importance. Minimizing evaporation is the key, and we use windbreaks (whether from old fence sections, woven sapling branches, shade cloth, and even parked vehicles), mulch, and shade to accomplish this. It sounds like you've already discovered greywater re-use. For newly planted trees & shrubs we'll place a couple of strawbales on the windward side to provide all three effects and the strawbales help keep the roots cool on blazing days. I'm not to familiar with dry climate plants in Australia, but here we use locusts (similar to acacia), pea shrubs, and lately mesquite as the most drought tolerant species. Our approach is that every square foot/meter of hard surface, whether roofing/roadways/or rock can double the effective precipitation on an equal area of soil, so we make every effort to direct run-off water to our soil as high in the landscape as possible, then mulch to help keep it there for use by the plants. Does your property have any topography or is it mainly flat?
gday 9ANDA1F I had never heard of composting toilets until very recently (other than digging a hole ) there are some very expensive septic systems that separate and purify the water for reuse on gardens but not recommended for fruit and veg also very high maintenance so composting toilet is definitely something I will be looking in to setting up I guess I under estimated the costs involved with setting up my place the way I wanted ,also over estimated the average rain fall for the area or at least the reliability of rainfall Keeping the moisture in the soil is definitely the biggest problem , the only time I have seen water falling on the property it had evaporated within ten minutes VERY FRUSTRATING mind you the locals say that it has been the worst 2 winters that they can remember I have been bringing large logs and branches and putting them around trees as shade /wind break hoping they will act like sponges and hold some moisture under them ,I will have to visit some local equestrian centres and beg for some old straw and manure There is an old ruin over the road and a dam which has had a drainage ditch cut in across a much larger paddock , this was done about 100 years ago with a horse and plough /grader tough old fellas back then the farmer who owns this puts sheep in there when there is water in the dam ,so at times it must rain enough to create run off With the limited rain is it worth digging swales , the videos I have watched all seem to be on hills or at least gentle slopes or they talk about getting 100mm or more of rain at a time the property has a fall of about 2metres at one end but mainly flat ,all flat around the house my plan was to build outwards from the house area ,I think I need to come up with a better plan some days I think I have bitten off more than I can chew ,it may help if I could see some water run off then see where it is going and trial some swales ,doing something is better than doing nothing thank you I will have a look at the links all info and thoughts are appreciated cheers
It sounds like you've been experiencing some drought years, hopefully your upcoming winter will be wetter. Starting near/around the house is an excellent idea ... think of the roof as your catchment area (i.e., watershed) such that you can double the effective rainfall on an equal area around your home. Then continue to plant outwards.