hugelkultur the ultimate raised garden beds

raised garden bed hugelkultur after one month

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raised garden bed hugelkultur after two years

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hugelkultur: the ultimate raised garden beds

hugelkultur raised garden beds

in a nutshell:

grow a typical garden without irrigation or

fertilization

has been demonstrated to work in deserts as

well as backyards

use up rotting wood, twigs, branches and

even whole trees that would otherwise go to

the dump or be burned

it is pretty much nothing more than buried

wood

can be flush with the ground, although raised

garden beds are typically better

can start small, and be added to later

can always be small - although bigger is

better

You can save the world from global warming

by doing carbon sequestration in your own

back yard!

perfect for places that have had trees blown

over by storms

can help end world hunger

give a gift to your future self

the verbose details about

hugelkultur raised garden beds

It's a german word and some people can say it all

german-ish. I'm an american doofus, so I say

"hoogle culture". I had to spend some time with

google to find the right spelling. Hugal, hoogal,

huegal, hugel .... And I really like saying it out

loud: "hugelkultur, hoogle culture, hoogal kulture

...." - it could be a chant or something.

I learned this high-falootin word at my

permaculture training. I also saw it demonstrated

on the Sepp Holzer terraces and raised beds video -

he didn't call it hugelkultur, but he was doing it.

Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised

garden beds filled with rotten wood. This makes

for raised garden beds loaded with organic

material, nutrients, air pockets for the roots of

what you plant, etc. As the years pass, the deep

soil of your raised garden bed becomes incredibly

rich and loaded with soil life. As the wood shrinks,

it makes more tiny air pockets - so your

hugelkultur becomes sort of self tilling. The first

few years, the composting process will slightly

warm your soil giving you a slightly longer growing

season. The woody matter helps to keep nutrient

excess from passing into the ground water - and

then refeeding that to your garden plants later.

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hugelkultur: the ultimate raised garden beds http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

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raised garden bed hugelkultur after twenty years

raised garden beds on top of sod -the soil comes from somewhere else

raised garden beds dug in a bit -note the sod is put upside down on the wood

and the topsoil is on top of that

Plus, by holding SO much water, hugelkultur could

be part of a system for growing garden crops in the

desert with no irrigation.

I do think there are some considerations to keep in

mind. For example, I don't think I would use cedar.

Cedar lasts so long because it is loaded with

natural pesticides/herbicides/anti-fungal/anti-

microbial (remember, good soil has lots of fungal

and microbial stuff). Not a good mix for tomatoes

or melons, eh? Black locust, black cherry, black

walnut? These woods have issues. Black locust

won't rot - I think because it is so dense. Black

walnut is very toxic to most plants, and cherry is

toxic to animals, but it might be okay when it rots -

but I wouldn't use it until I had done the research.

Known excellent woods are: alders, apple,

cottonwood, poplar, willow (dry) and birch. I

suspect maples would be really good too, but am

not certain. Super rotten wood is better than

slightly aged wood. The best woods are even better

when they have been cut the same day (this allows

you to "seed" the wood with your choice of fungus

- shitake mushrooms perhaps?).

Another thing to keep in mind is that wood is high

in carbon and will consume nitrogen to do the

compost thing. This could lock up the nitrogen and take it away from your growies. But well rotted wood doesn't

do this so much. If the wood is far enough along, it may have already taken in sooooo much nitrogen, that it is

now putting it out!

Pine and fir will have some levels of tanins in them, but I'm guessing that most of that will be gone when the

wood has been dead for a few years.

In the drawings at right, the artist is trying to show that while the wood decomposes and shrinks, the leaves, duff

and accumulating organic matter from above will take it's place. The artist is showing the new organic matter as a

dark green.

I find I most often build hugelkultur in places where the soil is

shallow. So I end up finding excess soil from somewhere else

on the property and piling it on some logs. Presto! Instant

raised garden beds! This is usually the easiest/fastest way too.

Especially if you have earth moving equipment.

For those times that the soil is deep and you are moving the soil

by hand, I like to dig up the sod and dig down a foot or two.

Then pile in the wood. Then put the sod on top of the wood,

upside-down. Then pile the topsoil on top of that. Even better is

to figure out where the paths will be, and dig down there too.

Add two layers of sod onto the logs and then the double topsoil.

I have discovered that a lot of people are uncomfortable with

the idea of raised bed gardens. They have seen the large flat

gardens for years and are sure this is the way to do it. Some

people are okay with raised beds that are three to six inches tall

- they consider anything taller than that unsightly.

So this is gonna sound crazy, but I hope to convince you that

the crazy-sounding stuff is worth it.

If you build your hugelkultur raised garden beds tall enough,

you won't have to irrigate. At all (after the second year). No

hoses. No drip system. Anything shorter won't require as much

irrigation - so there is still some benefit. Imagine going on

vacation in the summer without having to hire somebody to kill

water your garden! As a further bonus, the flavor of everything

you grow will be far better!

To go all summer long without a drop of rain, you need to build

your hugelkultur raised bed gardens .... six feet tall. But they'll


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raised garden beds dug in a bit -plus paths are dug on the sides and

that sod/soil goes on top too

shrink! Mostly in the first month. Which is why I suggest you

actually build them seven feet tall.

Hugelkultur raised garden beds can be built just two feet tall

and will hold moisture for about three weeks. Not quite as

good, but more within the comfort zone of many people -

including urban neighbors.

Some people will start out with hugelkultur raised garden beds

that are two and a half feet tall and plant only annuals. And

each year they will build the size of the bed a foot. So that after

a few years, they will have the bigger beds and the neighbors

never really noticed. And if they've tasted what comes from it -

they might be all for it without caring about the big mounds.

Besides, isn't this much better use of the wood than hauling it to the dump, or chipping it, or putting it in those big

city bins for yard waste?

standardhugelkultur raised

garden beds

narrowerhugelkultur raised

garden beds

peaked hugelkulturraised garden beds

hugelkultur raisedgarden beds with a

stone border

hugelkultur raisedgarden beds with a

log border

I usually build hugelkulture raised garden beds about five feet wide. This makes for some mighty steep beds. Just

pack that soil on tight and plant it with a mix of heavy rooted plants to hold it all together. Quick! Before it rains!

If you are going to build beds shorter than three feet tall, I suggest that you make the beds no wider than four feet

wide. Unless you are doing keyhole style raised garden beds, in which case you should be able to get away with

something wider.

Here is my video of several hugelkultur raised beds, both small garden scale, and large farm scale - one has nearly

a kilometer of hugelkultur!

The hugelkultur raised garden beds below were built in an urban lot between the curb and the sidewalk

(sometimes called a parking strip). The final raised garden bed is about two feet tall. The beds are about six feet

wide with keyholes. There is rotted maple on the inside and black locust (will rot in about 70 years) on the

outside:


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(click on an image to see a larger size)

Many more hugelkultur raised garden beds (click on the image to see a larger image, more images and the story

for the image):

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5 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14

Here is a video I made of a group of us making a hugelkulture raised garden bed shaped as a sun trap:

Here is another video I made of Mark Vander Meer talking about a three foot tall bed and how little water the

riparian species need:


6 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14

Here is sod that was piled in the spring and had some tomato plants stuck in it. It was not irrigated all summer.

The tomatoes not only survived, but they are delicious. Winter frost should hit any day.

hugelkultur raised garden beds FAQ

My HOA won't allow anything like that, what do I do? (my neighbors would freak out, what do I do?)

There are many possibilities. Some people dig a trench five feet deep, fill that with organic matter and have

something that is either flush with the surface or it appears to be only one foot tall (which is in the comfort zone


7 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14

of neighbors and HOA folk). Other people will build something that is 18 inches high the first year, and add a foot

each year. Still others will have so many neighbors build them all at once that it is difficult the buck the tide. And

then there is always the back yard.

I have standing trees that are about to be cut down. I don't want to have a bunch of logs sitting arounduntil they are old to be used for raised garden beds. What do I do?

The wood doesn't have to be old to be used. In fact, it is even better when fresh!

Do I need a wood chipper/shredder?

No. This style of raised garden beds works much better if the wood is not chipped. So much more peaceful and

less smelly too!

How do I till it every spring?

Once the raised garden bed is built, you don't ever till it. As the wood breaks down inside the bed, it will

sorta-kinda till its insides itself. And with a really tall, really steep raised garden bed, nobody will step on it, so the

soil will not become compacted.

I'm 81 years old. Does this make gardening less work?

More work to set up. But less work as the years pass. Planting and harvesting should be easier since you won't

have to bend down as much. On the second year and beyond, all irrigation and fertilization will be eliminated - so

that's less work. When combined with permaculture and polyculture techniques, you can even eliminate planting

seeds, so that in the end, all you ever do is harvest.

What will this do to the flavor of the food?

It will make for stronger flavor. Especially for fruits. Expect far more flavor in tomatoes and berries.

large scale hugelkultur raised garden beds

So I guess a person could think of the wood used in hugelkultur as "wild compost"! Available in twig, stick and

log sizes!

So I popped on out to my local hugelkultur store and I saw this:

Yummy! I'm guessing that somebody did some thinning and stacked this to use for firewood in the future. Only

they never came back and got it. So the years passed and the wood rotted ...

I took most of it and put it on my tractor:


8 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14

I left stuff that was so rotten that it would not transport well. Besides, it's going to do some good for the forest if

not for my raised beds.

Instant raised bed! Just lay down wood, and cover with dirt! That's all there is to it! Just two easy steps!


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10 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14


11 de 13 14-04-2013 15:14

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That's a hurky big bed! It will probabably be about 1/3 the size a year from now. Then we'll place rocks around it

and rework it a little into a slightly more elegant raised bed. This year: potatoes!

More? Comments? See the hugelkultur

raised garden beds thread

Artwork by Daniel Van Tassell

Thanks!

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Many thanks!


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hugelkultur the ultimate raised garden beds

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