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Can a garden go all summer with only one watering? Can you easily sustain plants from less arid zones? Can a simple, low tech trick transform your dirt into an active soil web that feeds plants, fights bad critters and prevents disease?
These are some of the claims that made me interested in trying Hugelkultur at home – but what is it?
Hugelkultur is a method of building planting beds by covering wood with dirt; big piles of wood and sometimes other organic matter. You can dig a trench and fill it with wood, or just pile the wood on the ground and cover it. There are many different approaches as Paul Wheaton points out, and the results are impressive. This has to be one of the most low tech systems I’ve ever heard of.
Why would you do this? As the wood rots, it has an incredible capacity for holding water, and creates a nifty little ecosphere to promote a healthy soil web of microbes, fungi, insects and worms. Eventually the decaying matter provides nutrients to the plants and critters, and as the wood decays it helps to prevent the soil from becoming compacted. Some experts say the results can positively impact the bed for 15 to 20 years. Plus it’s a very fun word to say.
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I had a big pile of firewood from some dying trees we took down several years ago, and rather than starting a new bed, I decided to convert an existing raised bed planter. I’ve seen videos of giant Hugelkultur beds, but several permaculture resources recommended approximately 6’x3′ dimensions, so my 4’x4′ planter should be perfect. Incidentally, this is one of the same beds from the worm tower article. I started by removing all the dirt from the planter, and went down about another foot below ground level.
When I removed the worm tower it was full of happy worm life, with worms in the tube, and hanging out of the holes in the side. There was some pretty solid evidence that the worms were venturing in and out of the tube to feed on the bacteria in the compost and bring the nutrients directly to the soil. The soil also had an abundance of regular earthworms, a big change from several years ago. I almost hated to pull this bed apart because the things we tried in past years had really seemed to work, but the dramatic claims around the benefits of Hugelkultur make it a worthy experiment.
After the dirt was removed I layered in the wood, and added a couple of buckets of compost from different stages. Avoid using wood from trees that contain natural toxins, like cedar and others from this list here – and if you find a good list of recommended wood to use, please post it in the comments for this article. I covered the whole thing with the dirt I removed, and then covered it with white clover seeds. The full set of project pics are here.
Maybe we’ll go “no till” and leave the clover in with the garden next year – not sure yet. I haven’t seen anyone add unfinished compost, so that was a random addition, but I have several stages going, which may give a jump-start to the soil life.
Later that evening after I finished the bed, we had our first, gentle, all-night rain of the season.
Brad,
I just found out about Hugelkultur and am interested in hearing how the bed turns out. I have heard of people combining this with swales which makes it even more effective, water-wise.
Do you think people can spread wood chips instead or is that too small?
Have a good T-day.
HI MIL! I read several that used compost, twigs and brush, so I would guess woods chips should work. Oh, and there was one that used a bunch of sawdust in addition to wood scraps – they said the moisture holding content was very, very high.
Wonderful piece!
I too have been gearing up for an area of my own. Late this summer I pulled out the rotting logs I used to stack firewood on for the past few years and tossed them aside for the project. I plan to set it up in a failed compost area to take advantage of the organic matter already in place.
Fantastic! If you are interested, I’d love to post the pics in our album – show people some different examples.
Either way I can’t wait to hear about it.
Brad
Great! Sending this to my perma-buddy in NYS.
Hi Brad, hugelkultur is such so cool! I like that you write your article by telling us how you went about setting it up. I’ll be most interested in seeing how it turns out!
I also like that you’ve taken an existing raised bed and that it’s relatively small – some of the hugelkultur projects I’ve read about just look so massive (i.e. so much work) that I was put off, but your article made me think it’s possible for me to do.
From my limited knowledge of hugelkultur, I’d suggest avoiding the following woods: camphor trees, black walnut, black cherry (pity, they smell so good), pine and fir trees, black locust and cedar. But you’ve covered most of those already. I’ve read that a few people have tried fir trees, but I haven’t read anyone giving an update on how well (or otherwise) they’ve done.
I’m sure your hugelkultur experiment will be a great success, and thanks for (another) great article!
EcoExpert Clare
Don’t give people “stuff” this Christmas, choose an EcoExpert selected, eco friendly gift here!
Thanks Clare!
The method reminds me of a Peruvian farming technique that I have tried out. You dig down to add a layer of compost and new cuttings. Cover this with the soil for planting. This new zone acts like a water receptacle. I have used this method with some success in combination with swales. Considering that I have a tree that must come down (I had already planted some new trees near it a few years ago), I think that I might try this method.
Frank that’s interesting to hear that the Peruvian method uses compost. I have one bed still left to convert and may try a “compost only” version. Unfortunately my property isn’t big enough for swales (i think???). If you have any good pics please feel free to link them here!
Brad
I’ve never heard of this method before. Have you ever experimented with terra preta? I was amazed at some of the terra preta discoveries they’ve made down in South America.
So much to learn. 🙂
Sharing this on the Common Sense Homesteading FB page.
Laurie
Hi Laurie – I have never heard of Terra Preta but I just looked it up and it sounds cool. I love hearing about these ancient techniques that are more productive than current techniques, yield healthier food, and have no negative impact on the environment. Nice ~virtually~ meeting you.
Brad
Wow, I have never heard of this. I thought I had to wait for my compost, but now I know what to do with my pile of branches and trimmings. It is about 8’x12’and maybe 2.5′ tall. I thought it might be there a long time, but if I cover with dirt, I can plant there! What vegetables do best, or do they all work well? I am in Fresno so gets good and hot in summer, so the thought of it holding moisture well is exciting. Thanks for the post.
Hi Danielle – well this will be our first year with it so I can’t personally vouch for what works well (yet), but there are a lot of videos of hugelkultur beds with volunteer tomatos and regular garden vegetables on Youtube.
This video (below) is interesting because he talks about the decomposing wood being a “nitrogen trap” depending on how decomposed the wood is. I think the micro-organisms that break down the wood require more nitrogen than what is available in the wood itself, so they use the free nitrogen in the soil until the decomposition process is well under way. After that point, the mound is kind of self-fertilizing. This would seem to suggest that at first, it might be best to start with legumes, clover, or any nitrogen fixing plants. I won’t be doing that though – I’ll be putting back my regular garden.
In the video I have linked in the article, it sounded like he used pretty fresh spruce, and got positive results quickly. I’ve also seen some of the “Greening the Desert” videos with Geoff Lawton (also on Youtube) he used recent plant waste, and nitrogen fixing trees.
I layered a bunch of completed compost on top of my wood pile before I put the dirt on, so maybe that will help, and I covered it with white clover until we’re ready to plant in the spring.
I would love to know how yours works out if you try it, and I’ll be posting updates on my successes and failures. Hopefully only successes.
Hi Danielle! From what I’ve read, there are no restrictions on what to plant in a hugelkulture bed. However, you do have to be careful that the wood is not toxic to other plants.
If you are looking to retain moisture, you should dig out the area where you put your bed and place the branches in the hole and then put the dirt back on top. Also, try to put it where water will run down towards it; have it form a little dam to any runoff.
Thanks for linking up to ThePeacefulMom.com. You’re opening my eyes to a whole new world! 🙂
you’re welcome, and i linked up because i love your site. 🙂
Hi Brad, it’s been a few years now so I’m wondering how did this work for you. I’m about to do a couple of small beds in my yard soon so really curious how this is doing a couple of years down the road.
Hi Leslie – sorry for the delay. the notice unfortunately went to my spam filter. the result was very positive, however we have since moved to another property in another state so I can’t tell you how the beds did this season. what i can share though is that this summer i’ve been putting in 65 feet (yes, feet!) of hugelkultur at our new property. i’m doing this because i was very happy with the results in the small beds.
please let me know how your project goes, and if you’d like to share pictures i’d be happy to post them!