Sunday, March 26, 2017

Trees On Our Land



We have planted over 700 trees so far, focusing our efforts on legumes in an attempt regenerate the soil. We used the book “Forest Trees of the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau” by Neginhal extensively.

Local Name
Scientific Name
Legume or not
Growth
Function/Value
Cluster Bamboo


fast growing
Timber, Wind break
Lime



Fruit
Sweet Lime



Fruit
Vilvam, Bael, Wood apple
Aegle marmelos


Fruit
Ram phal
Annona reticulate


Fruit
Seetha phal
Annona squamosa


Fruit
Jack fruit
Artocarpus heterophyllus


Fruit
Neem
Azadirachta indica


Timber, mulch, medicinal
Kattuva
Albizia lebbeck
legume
fast growing
Timber
Mandarai
Bauhinia purpurea
legume
fast growing?

Indian palm, Toddy palm, Palmyra palm
Borassus flabellifer


Timber
Porasu, Flame of the forest
Butea monosperma
legume
fast growing?

Sara konnai
Cassia fistula



Narthang-kai
Citrus medica


Fruit (pickled)
Coconut
Cocos nucifera


Fruit
Eetti
Dalbergia latifolia
legume
fast growing
Timber
Sheesham
Dalbergia sisoo
legume
fast growing
Timber
Rubber Tree
Gliricidia sepium
Legume
fast growing
Mulch
Kumizh
Gmelina arborea


Wild fruit
Veppalai
Holarrhena pubescens



Gumpuni
Lannea coromandelica

fast growing
Mulch
Marudani, Mehndi, Henna
Lawsonia inermis



Su-babool
Leucaena leucocephala
Legume
fast growing
Mulch
Illupai
Madhuca longifolia


Timber
Mango
Mangifera indica


Fruit
Chiku, sapota
Manilkara zapota


Fruit
Malai vembu
Melia dubia

fast growing?
Avenue tree,
Mara malli
Millingtonia hortensis

fast growing
Avenue tree, wind break
Muddy
Morinda pubescens

fast growing

Murungai
Morinda oleifera
Legume
fast growing
Fruit, Edible leaves
Curry leaves tree
Murraya koenigii


Edible leaves
Amla, Indian gooseberry, Nellikkai
Phyllanthus emblica


Fruit
Kodukkapuli
Pithecellobium dulce
legume
fast growing?
Fruit
Guava
Psidium guajava


Fruit
Pomegranate
Punica granatum


Fruit
Poonga
Pungamia pinnata
legume
fast growing
Oil seeds
Thoongumoonji kaattuva
Samenia saman
legume
fast growing ?

Avaram
Senna auriculata
Legume
fast growing
Medicinal
Ritha
Sapindus mukorossi



Yanai kundumani
Senna elata
Legume
fast growing
Mulch
Thangdi
Senna siamea

fast growing
Mulch
Agathi
Sesbania grandiflora
Legume
fast growing
Edible leaves, Mulch
Sorgum, Paradise tree
Simarouba glauca



Jamun, naaval
Syzygium cumini


Fruit
Yellow bells
Tecoma stans



Teak
Tectona grandis

fast growing
Avenue tree, wind break
Neer Maruthu
Terminalia arjuna


Timber
Badam, Indian Almond
Terminalia catappa


Fruit
Karu Maruthu
Terminalia crenulata


Timber
Poovarasu
Thespesia populnea





PS: The “?” at the end of “fast growing” indicates that we have not seen that species to be fast growing yet.




Almost all of the planted saplings are mulched constantly. Thanks to the bio-mass in our village. I pick up the piles of leaves, twigs, and coconut fronds from the sides of our road before they are burned by the villagers.

Since we don’t have a great infrastructure in place that would enable automated watering, I do the last leg of watering manually. Thus it was extremely important to bring up these planted saplings with very little water and invest in techniques that would help us achieve this goal. Depending on the availability of resources at the time of planting, I chose one of the following methods:


  • Planting in Swales: “Swales” is a Permaculture term for on-contour trenches. Advantage: the sapling gets a good collection area; Downside: labour-intensive
  • Burying a pot: A clay pot is carefully drilled in a few places and buried alongside the sapling leaving just the neck peeking out of the ground. To water the sapling, this pot is filled with water. Advantage: very economical; Downside: holes can get plugged soon, depending on the soil condition (in which case, a wick made of an old rag can help, but that will also disintegrate sooner or later)




 -- Hema