Topic: Hugelkultur

[Digeroo]

Has anyone tried Hugelkultur beds?  They are supposed to help in dry conditions and need less watering?  Not sure if they are sensible or just a weird  fad.

I was not sure if I could source the wood but I think nature is delivering it right now I expect there will be a lot of wood lying about the roads tomorrow.

[Jayb]

No, but I've been very tempted and would like to at some point. Although I'm from the opposite end as I'm hoping it will help with heavy wet conditions! Perhaps a tree surgeon might also be able to help with waste wood?

[manicscousers]

Thanks for this, going to use some of the small branches of the huge alder in between our bean trenches and cover them up. Might keep it moist next year 

[aj]

I made one two years ago; the spuds that were grown on it this last year didn't dry out and had the greenest foliage. If that helps.

[Digeroo]

Actually sourcing the wood has been quite easy.  I have some huge tree trunks in the garden which I have been using as edges for raised beds they are rotten now so I think I will cover them.

At the lotty managed to find several branches that had been brought down in the gales.  I have some fresh and some already rotten.   I also have quite a lot of brassica waste which take quite a time to rot down.

My other idea is to build a tall one next year.  I have a path at the top end of my plot and several feet of bed will catch the sun nicely.

[digmore]

  Have a go, it seems good.

Digmore. 

[Digeroo]

Thanks for replying.  I have got a move on and it is already taking shape.   Dug a hole to start with so I have enough soil to cover it. Buried various logs, branches and twigs and various slow rotting stuff.   Put down some old manure, leaves, turves.  Pile is growing.   It is in a rather dry area, so it will be interesting to see if it can manage without watering.   

My garden is so very dry, it is like drying to grow things in a sieve.   

[Lettisha Marie Howells]

I'm going to try a few Hugelkultur raised beds on my full allotment plot I've recently been allocated because the allotment is a few miles away from the house I can't get up there as often as I probably should, so I'm hoping the fact they need hardly any watering to keep the plants going. It will also give me more square footage so I'll be able to grow more. I've read up a load of stuff off the net so know the basics just have to try a few different options  and see what works better.
Anyone have some helpful advice before I start?
Regards

[Digeroo]

I am not convinced about it.  First year grew a couple of good courgette plants in a normally very dry spot but the strawberries plants disappeared.

Second years forgot it was there, but the top row of a square of sweetcorn did very well.  Took me a while to understand why.  So I am going to try some more.

My allotment is on a slope and the top end is very dry.  Basically the water table is an extra meter or so and soil very free draining.

I started at the wrong time, suggest now would be a good time to source wood because it will have blown down in the gales.

[John85]

No better results than with heavy mulching(6-8") of well rotten compost.No digging and no walking on the narrow beds.
Also much easier and labour saving.The non edible roots of the vegs must remain in the soil to act channels to bring nutrients down

[galina]

I am struggling with the basic definition even.  Does it mean that people are incorporating a bit of brushwood into trenches (a bit like putting corn stalks into bean trenches to increase waterholding).  Or are people here talking about beds which have literally a couple of large tree trunks and several big branches and very undulating levels of topsoil above the wood.  I must admit that I don't understand how in a high Huegel (hill) above treetrunks, the topsoil will stick and not get washes down into the valleys between the hills.  The second issue I don't understand is why loss of nitrogen is not an issue.  They say these hills will last for decades because this is how long the tree trunks need to rot down - does that not mean decades of depleted nitrogen?  We are told to be very careful about incorporating woodchips or mulching with woodchips because of the risk of  robbing nitrogen from the plants we want to grow.  Why is this not mentioned as a major issue with hugelkultur?

As I understand so little about why the concept works (and I don't doubt those who say it works very well) , I am looking forward to learning more.   

[plotstoeat]

Interesting. The diagrams I have seen start with solid logs which seems long term. Presumably rotten wood or wood chippings would be better for short term. This is what I did last year with my compost heap and I grew some good courgettes this year which was generally a bad one for cucurbits.

[daveyboi]

I am struggling with the basic definition even.  Does it mean that people are incorporating a bit of brushwood into trenches (a bit like putting corn stalks into bean trenches to increase waterholding).  Or are people here talking about beds which have literally a couple of large tree trunks and several big branches and very undulating levels of topsoil above the wood.  I must admit that I don't understand how in a high Huegel (hill) above treetrunks, the topsoil will stick and not get washes down into the valleys between the hills.  The second issue I don't understand is why loss of nitrogen is not an issue.  They say these hills will last for decades because this is how long the tree trunks need to rot down - does that not mean decades of depleted nitrogen?  We are told to be very careful about incorporating woodchips or mulching with woodchips because of the risk of  robbing nitrogen from the plants we want to grow.  Why is this not mentioned as a major issue with hugelkultur?

As I understand so little about why the concept works (and I don't doubt those who say it works very well) , I am looking forward to learning more.   

As I understand it you will have to add nitrogen in the first year or two but after that as the wood decays it acts as a sponge and holds the nitrogen in the moisture which is able to be taken up by the plants.

A fuller explanation is available here

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur

[galina]

Thank you Daveyboi.  Interesting read.   

[galina]

Another interesting way to increase water holding (although not so much increasing the actual growing area) is the concept of keyhole gardens.  Raised beds (usually circular but doesn't have to be) with an access path to the middle to a porous composting/watering container 'basket' from which water and nutrients leak out into the raised bed.  Large plants like squash can overhang the sides to save space.  Over time the bed can be raised higher with extra layers of brick and more soil.  As with all raised beds that have a deeper layer of growing compost, planting can be closer than in normal flat gardening.

These are often recommended for Africa (especially from the 'send a cow' project), but there is no reason why the concept should not work just as well for raised beds here:
http://www.sendacow.org.uk/lessonsfromafrica/resources/keyhole-gardens
http://www.geufronhall.co.uk/keyhole-gardens/

Hope this isn't too much of a thread drift from the Hugelkultur method.   

[Digeroo]

I started off with two quite large branches and then extended it with whatever I could find.
I actually dug a hole so washing off of the soil was not an huge issue.

I think it was better year two, so it is a long term project.

The things on top did not do well year one, but the things next to it did.  They did not seem to have any problems re nitrogen.   The top of my plot is very dry.  I have very free draining soil and a very ancient hedge at the top.  So if it is dry it need watering constantly or nothing with grow.  However the total effect was not outstanding so I kind of wrote it off.

Year two again the things next to it were amazing.  Things on top better than expected.
So I had a square of sweetcorn where the top two rows were huge and next two rows small and the front row in between.    I had actually forgotten about the hugelbed having written it off as not worth the effort.  I kept on starting at these two rows of sweetcorn and wondering why there were so noticeably tall.   Normally things get smaller as you go up the slope.   They did not seem to be suffering from nitrogen shortage.  But I do not have a shortage of manure.   I kept wondering if they were a different variety, but knew they all came from the same packet.

My soil is very free draining and sloped so the top of the plot is very dry.  There is then an ancient hedge beyond that so the roots will not be helping either.  So I am constantly looking for ways of increasing the moisture in the soil,

I have no concept of the hugelbed increasing the growing area.   

I am now on the hunt for some suitable pieces of wood to start another one.  If you find a tree blown down you have to be quick, the fire wood merchants etc, get there very quickly.

I suppose if you are worried about nitrogen then you could intercrop with beans. 

For me the easiest way of increasing moisture is a straw bale.  Anything grown next to it does well.   It seems to hold the moisture in the soil.  On top takes a lot of watering.   Again this might deplete the nitrogen, but not found problems. 

Nitrogen is one of the easiest and cheapest things to source anyway.  Why flush it away!!!   The plants love it.   

I get wood chips ex horse which come with added nitrogen, they seem to rot down quite quickly.  Never had problems with them.  Though do keep them away from green salads etc.

In order to retain water almost everything on my plot is mulched.

[galina]

Digeroo, when I talked about increasing the growing area, I had this picture in mind:
http://www.permies.com/t/25097/hugelkultur/Hugelkultur-feedback
admittedly a bit extreme with the pallet casing.   
Undulating does increase the overall ground area that can be planted.

The straw bale gardening is definitely a good idea.  I learned earlier this year from Silverleaf just how well it works, but that it does need weeks of initial 'conditioning' with copious amounts of 'recycled beer water' to introduce nitrogen and start a rapid composting process prior to planting.   

There are some hugelbeds that are made over a base layer of straw, as well as wood. 

Very interesting to read about your experiences.   

[woodypecks]

Great idea for a community to come together and do in areas with serious drought . Grow more food ! First time I,ve ever heard of it .Here is another link if anyone wants to see what its all about . https://youtu.be/Sso4UWObxXg  They are using big machinery to do it here an a massive scale .
  If they say it is working for them then this is great .....on a smaller scale it would be too much work for me and I would worry about Honey Fungus   and I couldnt waste my precious fire wood .For me the "lasanga method" is working well .