The monsoon season is nearly fully upon us here at Sadhana Forest and as the rains build up, the time has come for tree planting this year! Vibrations of excitement have been rippling through the community in the past few weeks. We only plant during the monsoon season to ensure that the seedlings will receive enough water in their first few months to get a really good start in Sadhana Forest.
We selected an area for planting and decided the first trees would be planted with our friends from the working group ‘One Week in June’, who generously provided the funding for purchasing our 1,000 seedlings this year. The seedlings are from the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest, which is the indigenous forest we are replanting here. See the previous blog ‘Tree Nursery for this Year’s Planting’ to read about collecting the seedlings.
We selected some hardy tree species which like to be planted in full sun for example Memecylon umbellatum, Walsura trifoliata and Bauhinia racemosa. We also chose a Banyan Tree seedling which has been propagated from the Matrimandir Banyan Tree in Auroville. This tree is considered the spiritual centre of Auroville.
We have introduced a new planting technique to Sadhana Forest in the last year. This technique is an attempt to replicate natural systems. After selecting the area to be planted, a circle with a radius of 50cm is marked. A trench is dug along this circle in a way that the depth of this trench is even at all points. With the soil that is dug out to make the trench, a circular mound with a hollow centre is created in the circle. The empty centre is left for the tree to be planted in.
After the mound is shaped it is filled with water up to the top. As a result of this the moisture content in the soil increases and the water goes into the soil to create a conical shaped water trough under ground to keep the roots hydrated as they make their way into the earth. In this way the trees don’t need much post planting care and attention. The conical water trough serves the tree until the roots get strong enough and is able to fend for itself.
After the water is absorbed fully by the mound, then compost is mixed into the soil. The proportion of compost should be 30%, to 70% soil. The compost we use is from our dry compost toilets! We produce 10-12 tonnes of it per year. Our gift back to the forest!
Our Sadhana Forest volunteers worked hard to prepare the mounds for our guests, and it was with great excitement and high spirits the first trees were planted. Only another 990 left to plant!
Thanks to Adam, Nicole and Rebecca for their pictures.