A swale greens up faster than the surrounding terrain
By definition, a swale is a low place that collects runoff water from melting snow or rain. It is more moist and contains more water-tolerant species of plants than the adjacent higher land. We have several swales near or on our property, which makes mowing a challenge during certain times of the year.
The swale you see in the photo absorbs water flowing from culverts that run beneath our driveway, across the field, and into a stream that continues through the woods and on down to the lake. The grasses grow faster and taller in the swale than on the drier shoulders. Escaped Forget-Me-Not flowers grow among the grasses in this particular swale, and will actually come to flower before I can properly mow in there each year.
Swales you see along the shoulders of highways or in dips of median strips serve the same drainage function, but may be populated by cat-tails, reed grass, or loosestrife. Many undisturbed (uncut) swales attract a variety of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Our swales seem to attract robins, deer, and woodchucks as well as the ever-opportunistic hawks.
Today’s seasonal spotting: chipmunks on stone walls, cabbage white butterfly flying low to the ground near pine trees
