Hugelkultur
 

Does anyone have hugelkultur beds?

We got our first one going, made from hemlock logs, branches, coffee grinds, and kitchen waste. There will be a dwarf apple tree (Honeycrisp) planted there in the near future (next to the mound). The bed is getting about 6 hrs of sun, which is A LOT in our shady garden in the middle of the woods!

Can you see the mound between the hostas? The first two pictures show the mound with logs covered by smaller hemlock branches.

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Stan and the Hugel bed after adding 5 large bags of coffee grinds. He will add compost on top on that. So far it is 3.5' high and 5'x6' at the bottom.

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Here is the link that has inspired us to do that: [url]http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur[/url]

Looks good Tania. Dave over at All Things Plants also has a good article and thread on his hugelcultur beds and also plant guilds. Claud

[URL]http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/dave/41/Building-a-Hugelkultur-Raised-Bed/[/URL]

[URL]http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/dave/1/Introducing-Plant-Guilds/[/URL]

Last year I made a modified Hügelkultur bed, but not mounded. I then put a low tunnel over it for seedlings. The heat of the decomposition helped warm the low tunnel, and when the seedlings were transplanted, I took down the low tunnel and planted melons. This year I started an asparagus bed there. It seems to work great. The soil there is incredible. Like making your own potting soil.

PS I say modified because instead of being a raised bed, I dug a pit first. Then filled the bottom with wood, followed by green plant debris from my cabbages and other brassicas, followed by horse manure, then compost, then capped by 2 or 3 inches of soil to level it off, then cardboard covered with leaves for mulch.

I am hoping that our small hugel bed will stay warm in winter and provide a nice windbreak for the apple tree that will be planted next to it. It will certainly provide enough moisture and nutrients to eliminate the need for watering (our water hose is not reaching there) and fertilizing will not be necessary after 1 year or so.

Scott, thank you for sharing your experience - I am so happy that you have had great results.

What kind of wood did you have available/used for it?

[QUOTE=Tania;423090]Scott, thank you for sharing your experience - I am so happy that you have had great results.

What kind of wood did you have available/used for it?[/QUOTE]I used fallen branches from my maple tree. (from the ice storm)

[QUOTE=Tania;423036]Does anyone have hugelcultur beds?

We got our first one going, made from hemlock logs, branches, coffee grinds, and kitchen waste. There will be a dwarf apple tree (Honeycrisp) planted there in the near future (next to the mound). The bed is getting about 6 hrs of sun, which is A LOT in our shady garden in the middle of the woods!

Can you see the mound between the hostas? The first two pictures show the mound with logs covered by smaller hemlock branches.

[ATTACH]44017[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]44018[/ATTACH]

Stan and the Hugel bed after adding 5 large bags of coffee grinds. He will add compost on top on that. So far it is 3.5' high and 5'x6' at the bottom.

[ATTACH]44019[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]44020[/ATTACH]

Here is the link that has inspired us to do that: [url]http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur[/url][/QUOTE]
Tania,

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I love all things composting / soil improving. This is the first time I have ever heard about Hügelkultur. Most of my property is trees. Now I have something new to research and experiment with.

Love your pictures also!

Glenn

I also use a modified version. I line new raised beds with trimmed branches (mostly mountain ash), yard waste, kitchen waste, cardboard, whatever is available. I then add garden soil, compost, and peat. Depends what I'm growing. I don't mound it either.
I do it as it is a way to recycle scrape organic material. Here's my beds.
[U][COLOR=#0066cc][URL="http://s128.photobucket.com/user/whitenoise_photo/media/011-5.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p181/whitenoise_photo/011-5.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/COLOR][/U]

Beautiful garden Drew!

I am under impression that hugel beds are not hugel unless they have some wood logs as a first layer. Anything else without logs would be lasagna beds?

Glenn, I would love to hear about your experiments with this method, when you get to it!

Tatiana

[QUOTE=Tania;423416]Beautiful garden Drew!

I am under impression that hugel beds are not hugel unless they have some wood logs as a first layer. Anything else without logs would be lasagna beds?

Glenn, I would love to hear about your experiments with this method, when you get to it!

Tatiana[/QUOTE]
Tatiana, you can count on it. I really like the idea of using the coffee grinds too. Great free resource for high nitrogen. Already Picked up 3-10lb bags at Starbucks. Also the tree trimming folks are going to be on my street shortly and I'm going to see if I can get them to leave me a load of branches and chips.

Glenn

I didn't really use logs, and it is probably somewhere between hugel and lasagna. Some of the pieces have a larger diameter than my arms, so fairly decent sized pieces. A lot of them too, the whole bottom is wood.
Here's a view from earlier in the year where you can see the beds before the plants went crazy.
[URL="http://s128.photobucket.com/user/whitenoise_photo/media/003-5.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p181/whitenoise_photo/003-5.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Drew, do you fertilize these beds at all? Are they warmer than the 'traditional' garden beds? I am very curious! The plants are looking so happy!

What is the mulch?

Ok, well yes I do fertilize, but only organic, except for the blueberries. I use ammonium sulfate and organic acidic fertilizer. I add compost to the raspberry bed every year. I may be over doing it, but I like the results. Plus time is needed for the wood and such to break down.
The mulch is pine straw.
The back bed is 2x24 feet, it is all raspberries
3 beds attached are 4x4 feet they have a blueberry in the middle surrounded by strawberries (1st bed is not visible in photos).
At the end of the 4x4 beds are three 2x4 feet beds, they have tomatoes, 2 plants each.
One bed is a pepper plant and a ground cherry.
The last attached bed is 8x12 and has strawberries and melons.
The bed against the shed is 3x12 and has pole beans and melons.
Borage, cosmos and other beneficial flowers are here and there too.
Melons and blueberries are heavy feeders.
Some parts of the bed are 3 years old. I added more beds every year, but I'm done now.
The 2x4 beds were the last added (this year).

Here's a photo from today
[URL="http://s128.photobucket.com/user/whitenoise_photo/media/017.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p181/whitenoise_photo/017.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This is one of my blueberries (Chandler), I have been harvesting raspberries for a few weeks, Encore cultivar is still forming (seen on the left)
[URL="http://s128.photobucket.com/user/whitenoise_photo/media/022.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p181/whitenoise_photo/022.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I also grow in pots. guarded by Jesse the wonder dog.
[URL="http://s128.photobucket.com/user/whitenoise_photo/media/021.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p181/whitenoise_photo/021.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Drew, your garden is so beautiful and healthy! Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Tatiana

Stan is building a large hugel bed now, as we cut some hemlocks and have the huge logs perfect for the hugelkultur.

The logs went directly on top of grass, then a layer of decaying wood, smaller branches, some green waste went on top.

He will be covering this with soil and compost later, and if it is done before the end of August, I may attempt to grow some cover crops on it.

I am estimating that the bed's height will be at least 4', if not higher, and about 6' wide.