Brush Piles = Swales and Wood Chips

This is one of several brush piles which I've been clearing, chipping the small branches for compost and sheet mulching and cutting the larger branches for either firewood or for building swales. To form temporary swales I lay the trees on contour on the uphill side of tree trunks to catch any falling debris. In the future I will dig trenches on the uphill side of those tree piles and fill the dirt in to form terraces that will catch rain water and allow it to percolate into the soil and prevent soil erosion.