In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see the detailed approach to Live / Natural Fence.
I am giving below some of the base designs and request the users to tweak the designs to suit their requirements. I also request the users to provide the designs which are not part of the base design.
Model / Design 1
This model/design is a very simple one and it is best suited for traditional crops like Paddy, Sugarcane, Vegetable Farming etc or where the land holding is very small (< 3 acres) and hence cannot allocate more land to the fences.
The boundaries or bunds of this model is generally higher than the main crops in the middle and hence farmers should go for boundary trees which have single pole (stem) and not multi-branched. Examples are Mahogany or any timber trees which have single pole.
Each of the timber trees should be placed at 6 feet apart (or more) and in between bushes need to be planted. The bushes need to grow atleast 6 feet in height and the selection of the bushes should be such that they are not eatable by cattle. The bushes should be atleast 1 - 1.5 feet in breadth. It is preferred to have thorny bushes.
The trees in the north and south can be any timber tree or for that matter anything. The trees in the east and west need to have coppice capability. The simple reason being the crops in the middle need more sunlight and hence we may need to coppice the trees during the crop growing seasons.
Model / Design 2
This model/design is suited for medium size farms (>3 and <10 acres) and can cover both traditional crops like Paddy, Sugarcane etc as well as timber trees, fruit trees, vegetable farms etc.
The difference between 1st model and the 2nd model is the size of the land that is allocated to the fence.
The fence can be allocated 3 - 5 ft of land in all the borders and you can have different layers in that area.
The first layer can be bamboos (either thorny or non-thorny) depending on your future requirements like selling the bamboos after 4-5 years. The bamboos need to be kept at 1 feet apart with more than one sapling covering atleast 1.5 - 2 ft breath. Instead of bamboos, you can go for several small bushes which have flowers etc as well.
The second layer can be thorny bushes like lemon trees or any other bushes. This will or should take up another 1.5 - 2 ft of the breath allocated.
The third layer will be similar to the Model/Design 1 or to the third layer in Model/Design 3.
Model / Design 3
This model/design is suited for large size farms (>10 acres).
The fence can be allocated anywhere between 10 - 12 ft of land in all the borders and you can have layers in that area.
The first and second layer can be similar to the 2nd model but only the size needs to be increased from 1 ft breath to 2.5 ft breath for the first and second layers. We have covered 5 feet breath by this method.
The third layer should have multi-branch trees. The trees that are selected should be placed at 10 ft apart. Any type of bushes or flowering trees that can grow underneath the trees can be placed in between.
Between the third and fifth layer there will be 5 ft gap fourth and this will be taken by the fourth layer.
The fourth layer can be left or filled with multi-purpose shrubs, bushes etc. The natural process of seed droppings from the birds will enable many plants to grow in this area.
The fifth layer should have multi-branch trees. The trees that are selected should be placed at 10 ft apart. Any type of bushes or flowering trees that can grow underneath the trees can be placed in between. The trees need to be placed 5 ft apart (breath wise) from the third layer and also should be placed exactly in the centre of the third layer trees. This will ensure the trees are placed in a V model and will act as a windbreaker.
Note: I am providing an approximate land required for fences as well as the formula to calculate for different sizes of lands, so users can understand how much land is kept aside for fencing and choose the appropriate model.
1 Acre (43560 Sq Ft) = 200 Sq Ft X 217.8 Sq Ft
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) = 400 + 435.6 = 835.6 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.92% of the land.
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) = 600 + 653.4 = 1253.4 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 2.88% of the land.
3 Acres (130680 Sq Ft) = 200 Sq Ft X 653.4 Sq Ft
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) = 400 + 1306.8 = 1706.8 Sq Ft is required for 3 Acres
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.31% of the land.
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) = 600 + 1960.2 = 2560.2 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.96% of the land.
I am giving below some of the base designs and request the users to tweak the designs to suit their requirements. I also request the users to provide the designs which are not part of the base design.
Model / Design 1
This model/design is a very simple one and it is best suited for traditional crops like Paddy, Sugarcane, Vegetable Farming etc or where the land holding is very small (< 3 acres) and hence cannot allocate more land to the fences.
The boundaries or bunds of this model is generally higher than the main crops in the middle and hence farmers should go for boundary trees which have single pole (stem) and not multi-branched. Examples are Mahogany or any timber trees which have single pole.
Each of the timber trees should be placed at 6 feet apart (or more) and in between bushes need to be planted. The bushes need to grow atleast 6 feet in height and the selection of the bushes should be such that they are not eatable by cattle. The bushes should be atleast 1 - 1.5 feet in breadth. It is preferred to have thorny bushes.
The trees in the north and south can be any timber tree or for that matter anything. The trees in the east and west need to have coppice capability. The simple reason being the crops in the middle need more sunlight and hence we may need to coppice the trees during the crop growing seasons.
Model / Design 2
This model/design is suited for medium size farms (>3 and <10 acres) and can cover both traditional crops like Paddy, Sugarcane etc as well as timber trees, fruit trees, vegetable farms etc.
The difference between 1st model and the 2nd model is the size of the land that is allocated to the fence.
The fence can be allocated 3 - 5 ft of land in all the borders and you can have different layers in that area.
The first layer can be bamboos (either thorny or non-thorny) depending on your future requirements like selling the bamboos after 4-5 years. The bamboos need to be kept at 1 feet apart with more than one sapling covering atleast 1.5 - 2 ft breath. Instead of bamboos, you can go for several small bushes which have flowers etc as well.
The second layer can be thorny bushes like lemon trees or any other bushes. This will or should take up another 1.5 - 2 ft of the breath allocated.
The third layer will be similar to the Model/Design 1 or to the third layer in Model/Design 3.
Model / Design 3
This model/design is suited for large size farms (>10 acres).
The fence can be allocated anywhere between 10 - 12 ft of land in all the borders and you can have layers in that area.
The first and second layer can be similar to the 2nd model but only the size needs to be increased from 1 ft breath to 2.5 ft breath for the first and second layers. We have covered 5 feet breath by this method.
The third layer should have multi-branch trees. The trees that are selected should be placed at 10 ft apart. Any type of bushes or flowering trees that can grow underneath the trees can be placed in between.
Between the third and fifth layer there will be 5 ft gap fourth and this will be taken by the fourth layer.
The fourth layer can be left or filled with multi-purpose shrubs, bushes etc. The natural process of seed droppings from the birds will enable many plants to grow in this area.
The fifth layer should have multi-branch trees. The trees that are selected should be placed at 10 ft apart. Any type of bushes or flowering trees that can grow underneath the trees can be placed in between. The trees need to be placed 5 ft apart (breath wise) from the third layer and also should be placed exactly in the centre of the third layer trees. This will ensure the trees are placed in a V model and will act as a windbreaker.
Note: I am providing an approximate land required for fences as well as the formula to calculate for different sizes of lands, so users can understand how much land is kept aside for fencing and choose the appropriate model.
1 Acre (43560 Sq Ft) = 200 Sq Ft X 217.8 Sq Ft
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) = 400 + 435.6 = 835.6 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.92% of the land.
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) = 600 + 653.4 = 1253.4 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 2.88% of the land.
3 Acres (130680 Sq Ft) = 200 Sq Ft X 653.4 Sq Ft
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1 (Fence Breadth) = 400 + 1306.8 = 1706.8 Sq Ft is required for 3 Acres
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.31% of the land.
(Length) 200 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) + (Breadth) 217.8 X 2 (Both Sides) X 1.5 (Fence Breadth) = 600 + 1960.2 = 2560.2 Sq Ft is required for 1 Acre
In percentage terms, we are allocating 1.96% of the land.
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