What Is A Swale Learn About Swales In The Garden

What is a swale? These are manmade structures made out of earth that are typically used by road management officials to divert water from impervious areas, such as roads, to a depressed earthen area that acts as a bowl to hold that water and filter it.

What is the purpose of a swale?
How do you make a garden swale?
How does a swale work?
What does a drainage swale look like?
What is the difference between a berm and a swale?
How do you maintain a swale?
What can I plant in a swale?
Can you fill in a swale?
What is a dry swale?
What is the opposite of a swale?
How much does a swale cost?
What is a swale in a yard?

What is the purpose of a swale?

WHAT IS A SWALE? Swales are one of the most commonly used stormwater practices. For many years they have been used along rural highways and residential streets to convey runoff. Today, swales not only convey stormwater but also help to treat runoff to reduce pollutants.

How do you make a garden swale?

Step 1: Evaluate the Slope. Construction of a swale begins with analyzing the slope of the yard and water runoff patterns to plan the route for the swale ditch. ...
Step 2: Lay Out the Swale. ...
Step 3: Excavate the Swale Ditch. ...
Step 4: Lay Gravel and Drain Tile. ...
Step 5: Finish the Swale.

How does a swale work?

Swales follow the contours around the base of a natural or created slope, redirecting storm water and filtering runoff as it sinks into the soil, instead of keeping it in one place, like a rain garden. Plants suck up the water along a swale's gently sloping banks and sometimes down the center of the channel.

What does a drainage swale look like?

A typical swale has a parabolic profile, starting at one edge and gently flowing down and up. You can do one so broad and shallow that it looks like part of the sculpting of the landscape. For this reason swales are often used in residential or commercial settings where there are large expanses of turf.

What is the difference between a berm and a swale?

Swales are simply shallow, low depressions in the ground designed to encourage the accumulation of rain during storms and hold it for a few hours or days to let it infiltrate into the soil. ... Berms are raised beds that can be used to direct water to swales.

How do you maintain a swale?

SUGGESTED MAINTENANCE ACTIONS.
MONTHLY.
• Inspect your swale during and after storms to make sure that rainwa- ter has drained and there is no erosion. • ...
SEASONALLY.
• Mow grass no shorter than 3 to 6 inches. Remove and compost all grass clippings. ...
AS NEEDED.
• Reseed bare areas to avoid erosion. ...
DO NOT:

What can I plant in a swale?

The bottom of the swale basin is only suitable for plants that thrive on high moisture levels, such as wetland species like reed and sedges. However, clover, most grasses, comfrey, and numerous other plants will tolerate the occasional inundation that occurs at the bottom of a swale.

Can you fill in a swale?

Can I Fill in a Swale to Make It Level with My Lawn or Other Landscaping? The short answer for this one is no. Some homeowners consider swales unsightly and would rather have a nice, level lawn or a smooth surface along their driveway.

What is a dry swale?

Dry swales are essentially bioretention cells that are shallower, configured as linear channels, and covered with turf or other surface material (other than mulch and ornamental plants). The dry swale is a soil filter system that temporarily stores and then filters the desired Treatment Volume (Tv).

What is the opposite of a swale?

Noun. Opposite of marshy land. desert.

How much does a swale cost?

Generally speaking, Vegetated Swales cost between $4.50 and $8.50 per linear foot when vegetated from seed, and $15 to $20 per linear foot when vegetated from sod. Annual maintenance costs will be around $1 per linear foot (seed) and $2 per linear foot (sod). The expected lifetime of a Vegetated Swale is 50 years.

What is a swale in a yard?

Swales are ditches or trenches built to direct and slow the flow of rainwater so that it has a chance to sink into the soil. While many gardeners dig swales on hillsides, all that is required is that the outlet on the far end of the swale is lower than the swale itself.