How does hugelkultur work? In a hugelkultur bed, organic matter breaks down over time, giving nutrients, warmth and moisture to plants. It's a way to take waste — both the rotting wood and organic matter — and using it to grow plants. The decaying wood will retain water, but it will also break down in years to come.

How long does hugelkultur last?

The number of years you get out of your hugelkultur and hugel bed will depend on the density of the wood originally used to build it. Typically, it will last from around eight to 10 years. However, if you are able to use hardwood trees, you may get as many as 20 years of great gardening out of it.

What should you not put in hugelkultur?

Avoid wood from allelopathic trees like black walnut (for its juglone toxicity); high-resin trees like pine, spruce, yew, juniper and cedar; and hard, rot-resistant woods such as black locust, Osage orange and redwood. Any type of wood with sprouting potential (such as willow) should be completely dead before using.

What is the point of hugelkultur?

The Benefits of Hugelkultur

The rotting wood hosts beneficial fungi, bacteria, insects, worms, and microbial growth that create nutrients your plants can use. Over time the mound will shrink as the wood rots but you can always add more soil or compost to the top.

How do you use hugelkultur?

“To create a hugelkultur, pile up branches or brush a foot or two deep in a mound 4 to 8 feet long. Stomp on the pile to compact it a bit. Then toss compostable materials—grass clippings, sod, straw into the pile. Sprinkle some compost on the mound, and top with an inch or so of soil.

The Basic Principles Behind Building Hugelkultur Raised Bed Gardens

17 related questions found

How do you plant a hugelkultur bed?

Building a Hugelkultur Bed

1. Step 1: Digging up the sod* ...
2. Step 2: Adding large logs that are decaying. ...
3. Step 3: Fill in the air gaps with composted wood chips* ...
4. Step 4: Add lighter wooden materials, smaller rotting logs, branches, etc. ...
5. Step 5: Add other nitrogen rich matter. ...
6. Step 6: Add top soil & rich compost. ...
7. Step 7: Plant! (

What grows best in a hugelkultur bed?

Plants grown in a hugelkultur bed thrive, too—Dave's hugelkultur-bed onions, for instance (top photo), are much more vigorous than those grown conventionally, and he has had excellent results with herbs, potatoes, sweet potatoes, gourds, peppers and much more.

Can I use firewood for hugelkultur?

Learn how to build mounded soil beds and grow plants with logs through Hugelkultur. ... A simple version is to take logs, old firewood, or branch prunings that you would burn or dump, create a mound or ditch and bury them in soil. Layering in hay, straw and other organic materials works well, too.

What kind of wood is used for hugelkultur?

Pine is okay for hugel beds, so is oak, maple, sweetgum, apple and most any other species of tree around. That includes softwood species as well. These trees, like pine, will typically rot faster than hardwood trees in a hugelkulture mound.

Is hugelkultur good?

Hugelkulture beds have naturally good drainage and produce incredibly rich, fertile soil that retains moisture. It's also a great way to upcycle woody debris. Hugelkultur is often utilized in permaculture systems and even works in the desert!

Is ash wood good for hugelkultur?

I recommend NOT using the wood ash in hugelkultur, because they quickly raise a lot the pH, and make soil conditions harsh for growing most plants. When wood ash is used as a fertilizer it is used in small amounts, not to change much the pH of soil.

Can you do hugelkultur with wood chips?

Yes it has a lot of benefits, but if all you have is wood chips and want the water storing of buried wood, you could do a buried mulch swale. This is basically a small trench dug on contour about 1 foot deep by 1.5-2 foot wide, filled with wood chip, then covered lightly with soil.

Does hugelkultur attract termites?

Do Hugelkultur Beds Attract Termites? Well, they can. ... But termites much prefer living in standing dead trees, which is a far different ecosystem from buried logs and compost.

Does hugelkultur rob nitrogen?

One student project from the University of Wisconsin does confirm that hugelkultur does not result in plant nitrogen deficiencies, but author Axel Adams notes that more targeted research is needed in that area, as well as a longer trial to make sure roots have a chance to reach past the layer of added soil.

What direction should hugelkultur face?

A bed that runs north to south would create an optimal conditions for most plants, but if you wished to grow plants that needed indirect light, an east-west orientation would give you one side that received less light through the course of the day.

What is hugelkultur raised bed?

Hugelkultur, pronounced Hoo-gul-culture, means hill culture or hill mound. It's literally a raised garden bed that is built from the bottom up with logs, sticks and branches, wood chips, grass clippings, manure, leaves, food scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds… everything you would put into a compost heap.

Can you use cedar for hugelkultur?

You can use either hardwood or softwood trees in your hugelkultur bed. ... There are a few types of trees that don't break down well, so it's best to place them at the bottom of the pile. These include, black cherry, cedar or juniper, and pines.

What can I grow in a hugelkultur?

For example, a hugelkultur mound in the right position could be ideal for growing tomatoes (on the sunnier side) and their companion plants. You could also grow squash or pumpkins, corn and beans (the three sisters), or other warm weather crops in the summer months.

Can you use pine needles in hugelkultur?

I use pine for hugelkultur all the time and it works fine. I agree with others that it's not going to change your overall acidity but definately use it.

What do you do with a rotten log?

Letting it rot is totally fine. Chipping it to use as mulch under your shrubs is a good idea. Burning it in your stove or fire pit could be fun and practical. Even bringing it to a nearby landfill or composting facility is OK, as long as that facility is right in your town.

Can you burn rotted wood in a fire pit?

If a piece of wood is rotted, don't burn it in your fireplace. Rotten wood is less dense than solid, unrotten wood. ... Over time, the rotten wood will eventually degrade into nothing. So, if you discover a piece of wood is rotten, it probably has a high moisture content.

Is Rotted wood good compost?

Decaying wood provides homes for countless organisms including insects, worms, fungi and birds. As it rots it slowly enriches the soil adding loads of carbon-rich organic matter.

Can you grow asparagus in a Hugelkultur bed?

The problematic middle part of a hugelkultur mound

In the center of a hugelkultur mound the soil will shrink over time. ... Asparagus might also be problematic as that can grow for so many years and also might suffer if the soil underneath it disappears.

How do you build a Hugelkultur style raised bed garden?

3 Ways to Build Hugelkulture Raised Garden Beds

1. Dig a trench as deep as you like.
2. Pile wood, logs, branches, wood chips in the trench.
3. Lay the removed sod upside down on top of the wood.
4. Add layers of organic materials: grass clippings, leaves, hay, straw, manure, compost.
5. Finish with top soil.

How do you stop wooden raised beds from rotting?

To prevent wood preservative leaching into the soil, line wood exposed to soil within the bed with black plastic sheeting. Untreated wood will have a shorter life than treated, although untreated hardwoods such as oak and western red cedar will still last many years.