The Garden of Pla del Mut Dalt is located on a ridge adjacent to a public road down the valley from the town of Senan. The majority of the site is relatively flat, and it is currently dominated by a thinned forest of Pinus halapensis with a lower canopy of Quercus ilex, which indicated that agricultural use has been abandoned decades ago. The forest is light, meaning there’s a lot of sunlight reaching the ground. This allows grasses and herbaceous plants to grow under the trees. The northwest edge of the site is a steep slope covered with an oak forest (Quercus ilex and Quercus faginea) that connects with the Garden of Pla del Mut Baix closer to the valley floor. The soil is very poor and has a depth of only 30 cm, which results in a rocky surface. Due to the characteristics of a forest, the soil is covered by an undecomposed and a humified layer of organic matter of 2 cm each. The matches the characteristics of the Morull soil, which can have a thin O horizon in forested conditions.

Each garden contains a 10x20m test plot that is monitored closely prior, during and after the intervention in order to document changes to the soil and vegetation. The test plot is situated in an area typical of the site, on a flat area with a mixture of pines and oaks. This page contains more information about the test plot and the vegetation survey.

The even-aged stand of pines was selectively logged in 2020 and the traces are clearly visible in the photos. The form of the pine trees, specifically the narrow diameter of the canopies and lack of lower branches, indicate that they grew in a forest that was much denser than today, and the large spaces between trees were previously occupied by pines. This is represented in the plan showing the existing trees as well as those that were logged. We include the trees that were logged in the drawing because the stumps and roots remain, and we expect that these will be valuable sources of organic matter as they are decomposed by bacteria and fungi in the soil. Following the removal of their neighbors, the remaining pines are exposed to increased sun and wind, especially since the site is located at the top of the ridge. This, combined with the age of the trees, indicates that the pines are not the future of this plant community. We expect that the oaks, which have a more plastic and adaptable tree architecture, will respond favorably to the new conditions to become the new dominant canopy.

The logging operation generated piles of extra wood and small branches that were left onsite by the logging company. Material that would have been waste was reworked into intricate fences that enclose and mark the Jardinets facing the public road. Each jardinet marks a distinct condition. The reminder of the site is divided into evenly sized plots, each of which will support the herd of horses for a single day. The distribution of these plots follows the road, and the entrances are clustered to limit the number of gates and to create spaces shared between multiple plots. Each plot must be accessible to the tractor, and the fences respond to the existing trees. The plots respond to the location of the Islands, which are located at unique moments in the interior of the site, and are fenced to protect them from grazing. 

Images showing the existing condition of the forest and soil, Chair of Being Alive