Try to replicate how a natural system would function by slowing the flow of runoff. Dig small trenches around gardens and incoporate ponds with wetland plants to act as water sinks that trap excess nutrients and increase soil moisture and fertility.

• By slowing the flow of runoff and spreading it out across the landscape, we greatly increase the amount of water infiltrating into the soil.

• The practice of ponding river systems can fill the floodplain with fresh water, push salt from the landscape, and initiate the water cycle. These vital processes were managed by vegetation, prior to people clearing the land.

• By using ponds or water sinks, we can increase soil moisture and fertility, allowing us to more quickly develop natural garden systems with higher diversity and layering. The key is to develop the system from the top of the hill or slope with first succession plants that will initiate the nutrient cycles and release fertility from the soil. As the soil moisture and fertility increases down the slope, the plant communities will become more diverse and more layered.

• Ponds, or wetland areas in your garden trap excess nutrients that are taken up by wetland plants. These plants can be slashed at regular intervals and laid as mulch at the top of the slope. This process returns nutrients to the high ground and as the mulch breaks down, the nutrients rotate through the cycle again. Animals performed the role of returning nutrients to the high ground prior to human interference with the natural cycles.