Soil Conservation - A Matter Of Life And Death, Part 2
In part one of this series, we introduced the concept of looking to the traditional ecological knowledge contained in the myths of the ancient Polynesian cultures.
There are to be found clues to the importance of soil and to simple, actionable ways we can conserve this resource.
We looked at rainwater runoff as a key factor in soil erosion, and its first cause, deforestation and consequent lack of shade, plus ways to counterbalance it.
Now, let's continue exploring the causes of excessive runoff.
The next one that needs to be discussed is the proliferation of non-permeable surfaces.
A non-permeable surface is any surface that collects and then sheds rainwater rather than letting it through into the soil beneath it.
In practice this basically means roofs of buildings, and all paved surfaces such as roads and parking lots, most man-made objects that occupy surface space on the earth.
Of course we need buildings to live and work in and roads to travel on, etc.
So I am not proposing that we eliminate all such things from the landscpe.
However, the way we situate, design, and construct these objects has a tremendous influence on the runoff situation.
This means there is a lot you can do in that area to minimize their negative impact.
Many roofs still shed directly onto the surrounding ground , eroding it right there and then.
Others have gutters diverting it to a sewage system, turning valuable pure water into destructive waste.
Every roof needs to have gutters connected to catchment tanks.
The supply of clean fresh water is dwindling very fast on this planet and wars are already at this moment being fought over it.
Forget oil for a moment, without water you won't live to enjoy another drive in your car.
Even if you are currentlyhooked up to a municipal water supply, catchingthe rain off your roof is extremely beneficial.
Roads and parking lots are part of a complex, large-scale polluted runoff problem.
Good solutions are already being applied in some places.
These solutions involve community organizations and planning and transportation departments.
On a smaller, down-home scale, you canminimize problems associated with paved surfaces in the following ways:
Earlier on, we saw the importance of maintaining full vegetative cover over the soil.
In practice, herbicides are used 99% of the time to achieve the opposite effect: bare soil.
You only need to take a quick look around some yards, roadsides and farms nearby to see firsthand how the use of herbicides leaves large areas of soil lifeless and bare.
These areas are constantly getting stripped by the rain.
There are many alternatives to spraying, alternatives that enhance the soil instead of destroying it.
Before naming some, let's look at the desired outcome: all soil covered with vegetation.
Preferably vegetation other than what you usually refer to as "weeds".
Some "weeds" can be helpful, especially in agricultural settings where looks aren't first priority.
The ones you really need to eliminate are invasive species.
You'll want to end up with beneficial groundcovers.
A third and final article in this series will address the biological aspects of soil conservation.
There are to be found clues to the importance of soil and to simple, actionable ways we can conserve this resource.
We looked at rainwater runoff as a key factor in soil erosion, and its first cause, deforestation and consequent lack of shade, plus ways to counterbalance it.
Now, let's continue exploring the causes of excessive runoff.
The next one that needs to be discussed is the proliferation of non-permeable surfaces.
A non-permeable surface is any surface that collects and then sheds rainwater rather than letting it through into the soil beneath it.
In practice this basically means roofs of buildings, and all paved surfaces such as roads and parking lots, most man-made objects that occupy surface space on the earth.
Of course we need buildings to live and work in and roads to travel on, etc.
So I am not proposing that we eliminate all such things from the landscpe.
However, the way we situate, design, and construct these objects has a tremendous influence on the runoff situation.
This means there is a lot you can do in that area to minimize their negative impact.
Many roofs still shed directly onto the surrounding ground , eroding it right there and then.
Others have gutters diverting it to a sewage system, turning valuable pure water into destructive waste.
Every roof needs to have gutters connected to catchment tanks.
The supply of clean fresh water is dwindling very fast on this planet and wars are already at this moment being fought over it.
Forget oil for a moment, without water you won't live to enjoy another drive in your car.
Even if you are currentlyhooked up to a municipal water supply, catchingthe rain off your roof is extremely beneficial.
Roads and parking lots are part of a complex, large-scale polluted runoff problem.
Good solutions are already being applied in some places.
These solutions involve community organizations and planning and transportation departments.
On a smaller, down-home scale, you canminimize problems associated with paved surfaces in the following ways:
- Make driveways and other paved surfaces only aslarge as they need to be to function.
- Construct flat or gently sloping driveways and parking spaces out of a thick bed of open-grade gravel or cinder.
- Construct steep driveways with two concrete "tracks", with turf, gravel, or ground-cover plants in between.
- Wherever water sheets or gushes off existing paved surfaces onto the ground when it rains, create small ponds and gardens with moisture-loving plants to retain the water.
Earlier on, we saw the importance of maintaining full vegetative cover over the soil.
In practice, herbicides are used 99% of the time to achieve the opposite effect: bare soil.
You only need to take a quick look around some yards, roadsides and farms nearby to see firsthand how the use of herbicides leaves large areas of soil lifeless and bare.
These areas are constantly getting stripped by the rain.
There are many alternatives to spraying, alternatives that enhance the soil instead of destroying it.
Before naming some, let's look at the desired outcome: all soil covered with vegetation.
Preferably vegetation other than what you usually refer to as "weeds".
Some "weeds" can be helpful, especially in agricultural settings where looks aren't first priority.
The ones you really need to eliminate are invasive species.
You'll want to end up with beneficial groundcovers.
- Determine which weed species are truly undesirable in your situation and eradicate these as much as possible manually.
- Control all others by mowing, weedwacking or -level areas only- cultivation.
- Plant suitable ground cover species at such a spacing that they may be expected to fill all gaps within about six months.
- Keeping the planted area handweeded will get easier and easier as your plantings start to fill in their allotted space.
A third and final article in this series will address the biological aspects of soil conservation.
Source...