https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44013933
(2 months ago, only 4 comments)
Getting good results costs more because it requires caring about what you're doing and putting in extra effort to ensure success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XfnDAEi4JY
This location is as tropical as it gets - 8 degrees north of the equator.
Now these mini forests are coming up everywhere in this city.
In Kerala, Crowd Foresting also does a lot: https://www.crowdforesting.org/
* Secure the large area of land
* If your budget is limited, plant a few small areas in the Miyawaki Method to get healthy ecosystems started
* In future years, as you get more money, plant more areas, or just wait for the forest to spread from the Miyawaki areas.
In this episode, we debate the legacy of Dr. Akira Miyawaki: the man, the myth, and the method.”
For accessibility and personal preferences reasons, I wouldn't object to a HN policy change where podcasts are only allowed if they're accompanied by a readable transcript. Personally I still wouldn't read it because I don't like reading transcripts of podcasts that could be articles.
Not to excuse poor web design practices, but this is what CTRL+ or ⌘+ is for in most modern browsers.
But the most interesting part was a segment covering how tree roots engage in aggressive recruitment and exchange of resources with an underground biome of bacteria and fungi.
(and the erratum for the 2019 potential paper https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc8905)
I personally was initially enthusiastic. However, I think there is much easier ways to get the benefits. For example, by adding trees and landscaping in Parks, medians and other public spaces.
Once a forest is added to an area, it becomes completely inaccessible because of how dense it grows. All of the ones I have seen are completely fenced off.
This is a method to add trees and landscaping.
> Once a forest is added to an area, it becomes completely inaccessible because of how dense it grows. All of the ones I have seen are completely fenced off.
It sounds like they're completely inaccessible because of fencing and density. Fencing might be hard to remove, but density at ground level tends to decrease as a forest grows; the canopy blocks sun and lower tree limbs may drop or become less productive and bushier plants have a harder time. After the forest gets somewhat established, pathways are easier to form (although brambles and thickets may need help to clear), and thinning the trees can help the remaining trees thrive.
My parcel has a woods on the edges, and it wasn't too bad to establish paths in most of it, especially with a little help from goats to clean up the ground clutter. Similarly, there are trails in a nearby well established reserve, but you could easily go off trail if you had a reason too... Some bits are too dense to pass through, but most of it is fine. Your local forests likely grow a bit differently than mine though.
It sounds like your describing parkland, which is a different beast entirely
I agree: I think the podcast touched on this, but “racing towards the densest forest you can find” sometimes makes no sense - there may have simply been grassland or shrubland before human habitation that supported its own unique flora and fauna!
A well placed hole with a 1/2 inch drill bit, and 100% glyphosate does wonders to a tree. Make sure the hole is slanted downwards, so the glyphosate stays inside to be transported by the cambium.
Another option if you don't want to leave marks on the tree is to pour Tordon (picloram) at the base of the tree.
- heavily pre-treat soil with organic matter (simulating forest floor)
- plant a mix of native plants that will make up canopy, tree, sub-tree, and shrub layers
- densely planting plants (3-5 saplings / m^2)
- heavy mulching after planting (weed suppression, moisture control, nutrients)
This encourages rapid growth into a biodiverse dense forest much faster than standard planting techniques.
It's counter intutitive because a lot of gardening or agriculture or artificial horticulture in general is very spaced out intentionally for access for humans to care and maintain.
In hindsight though it does make sense, the density stops certain fauna and flora from competing making the ring fenced area immediatley established.