What is the best driftwood for a hugelkultur?
Wet wood makes for heavy lifting. The most persistent driftwood are rot resistant species. Some of the best hard woods sink. Conifers float. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience using eastern hemlock in a hugelkultur?
What are hugelkultur mounds and how do you make them?
Since you make hugelkultur mounds out of logs, branches, and leaves, it’s an ideal way to clean up fallen trees from around your property. Provided that they’re of beneficial hugel species, of course.
Is hugelkultur talking about toxic wood?
In the dozens of hugelkultur threads, crucial information about toxic woods that should not be used is often burried by the quantity of it all. So let's restrict this thread to the discussion of woods that are likely to be problematic.
What can I plant in my hugelkultur?
Nightshade such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, as well as brassicas, leafy greens, alliums, various culinary and medicinal herbs, and small berry bushes. The top of your hugelkultur mound is known as the “plateau.” This is going to be the deepest spot, but also the driest.
What wood should you not use 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.
Can I use firewood for hugelkultur?
Stack Up a Hugelkultur Bed Inside these mounds, the wood slowly decomposes, releasing a steady stream of nutrients for up to ten years. Additionally, the rotting logs absorb water, helping to maintain moisture in the mound during drier times.
Is cedar good for hugelkultur?
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. Do NOT use black locust (it won't decompose) or black walnut (it will inhibit growth).
What is the best wood to use for garden beds?
cedarWhat Kind of Wood to Use? In most cases, cedar is the best wood to use for garden beds because cedar is naturally rot resistant. Western red cedar is commonly used, but white cedar, yellow cedar and juniper are also high-quality choices for outdoor construction projects.
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.
Does hugelkultur attract termites?
Do Hugelkultur Beds Attract Termites? Well, they can. Termites have no interest in small pieces of wood, like wood chips or buried brush, but they are natural scavengers of buried pieces of wood large enough to support a colony. This is why hugel beds always should be located at least 30 feet (10m) from your house.
How tall should a hugelkultur bed be?
The pile can be as long and high as you like but I suggest a 2- to 3-foot high bed as it's easier to work with (and can last without water for two or three weeks). Some folks build them really tall, up to 5 or 6 feet high but I would need heavy equipment to achieve that. Then, water the layers well.
Is birch good for hugelkultur?
Use what you have, whether that's a downed tree, a long-dead limb, old logs or punky firewood. Softwoods — such as birch, poplar, cottonwood and alder – are ideal. Hugelkultur experts recommend steering clear of black walnut, cedar, black cherry and redwood.
How long does hugelkultur take to break down?
After building walls for a raised bed, they fill the bottom with logs and twigs, before adding the usual raised bed mix. This design is called a hugelkultur raised bed. Over time, the pile shrinks as the organic matter slowly decomposes. Every five years or so it is rebuilt.
Is pressure-treated wood toxic for gardens?
Manufacturers of pressure-treated wood with micronized copper quaternary claim that their lumber won't leach any copper into the soil and therefore, it's safe for all uses, including making garden beds.
Is pine wood good for garden beds?
Pine is a common wood for raised beds, since it's easy to work, and can be purchased for roughly 60 cents per foot vs. $4.00 per foot for cedar. However, pine is less resistant to rot, compared to other woods like douglas fir, cedar, and oak.
Can I use oak for raised garden beds?
Oak can be a good material for raised beds, since it's naturally rot-resistant, and is 50-100% stronger than other woods like pine. However, oak is heavy and more difficult to cut and drill. Oak grows more slowly than many softwoods like pine, which makes oak less sustainable.
What wood is good for a Hugelkultur bed?
Cherry wood is also quite resistant to breakdown, so skip that too. Most other wood works fine, so as long as you skip cedar, walnut, black locust, and cherry, your Hugelkultur bed will turn out great.
What is a Hugelkultur garden bed?
What is Hugelkultur? How to Build a Hugelkultur Garden Bed? Otherwise known as a raised garden bed, a Hugelkultur bed has its origins in Eastern European and German farming. Today, it’s used successfully in permaculture gardening across the world. The idea behind this hundreds of years old practice is to mimic how water is conserved in ...
How to make a sandbox?
Step 1: Pick your materials. Gather all sorts of woody materials including logs, branches, twigs. Also gather leaves, manure, compost, soil, wood chips, straw and other compostable materials for layering.
What to use on top of hardwood?
Softwood and branches should be used on top of the hardwood layer. Cover with layers of compostable materials like wood chips, sod, straw, grass clippings, a thin layer of compost and then for the last layer use soil.
How does a Hugelkultur bed work?
A Hugelkultur bed essentially works as a log composing system. Logs, branches, and other woody materials go into creating a Hugelkultur bed, which is covered by a layer of soil to create a mound.
Can you sow seeds in a Hugelkultur?
Now that your pile is set up, you can sow the seeds of plants you want to raise in your Hugelkultur. This is generally what goes into building a raised garden bed. Next, let’s see some specifics on the type of wood you should use, what plants you can grow, and how to fix a termites problem.
Can you grow rhubarb in a hugelkultur bed?
You can grow almost anything in your hugelkultur bed from edibles to flowers. You can sow seeds or plant seedlings. Both will grow fine. Perennials such as rhubarb, asparagus or strawberries can also be planted. Annuals like potatoes or pepper will also grow nicely in a Hugelkultur bed. Use your Hugelkultur bed to create a polyculture planting area ...
What are the benefits of hugelkultur?
Let’s list just a few of the most common: reduces watering frequency. can use up waste wood or prevent it from needing to be burned in a burn pile. increases the surface area of your garden beds. may generate heat as the wood decomposes.
What is the best way to use a hugelkultur bed?
One of the coolest things about a hugelkultur bed is that you can repurpose some of the soil that already exists in your yard. If you have decent-quality soil, this is a great way to get the most out of your own top soil while still lifting the height up to a more manageable level!
What to put in a shallow trench?
Once you’ve prepared the shallow trench in your bed, pack that couple inches with green waste. Trimmings from your garden, grass clippings, fresh manure, compost (whether finished or unfinished compost), kitchen scraps and the like are excellent things to put in those first couple inches of space.
Why cover a hugelkultur raised garden?
Wherever a plant isn’t, you want fully covered with mulch to reduce the chance of weeds filling it in. In addition, hugelkultur raised beds may help retain water once the wood starts to compost. But like all raised garden beds, you want to reduce moisture evaporation in the upper few inches of your growing medium.
What trees are considered allelopathic?
Common allelopathic trees include walnut (particularly black walnut), eucalyptus, tree of heaven, manzanita, sugar maple, red oak, sycamore, goldenrod, American elm, pepper tree, and black locust. Including leaves or wood from these can potentially pose a risk to your plants.
How much wood should I use for a 15" garden bed?
But a 15″ bed should only have 6″ of wood at most. You have to maintain that 8 inches of growing medium as your top layer for gardening purposes. For shallower beds, I actually recommend using branches and twigs as your wood source.
Can you make a raised bed with logs?
Certainly, you could create a long, narrow bed and fill the center with logs, then mound dirt over them for a more traditional hill mound structure. But for most people who grow in raised beds, they just want to have enough potting mix to make nice, level beds. Hugelkultur raised beds provide the best of both worlds.
Introduction to hugelkultur gardening
People seem to think that hugelkultur gardening is a mysterious and complicated system of gardening. But it really isn’t. And there are many ways to incorporate the use of wood in a permaculture garden.
The benefits of hugelkultur
Hugelkultur proper is the placing of the logs on top of the soil, and covering it with more soil. In this instance, you can build quite tall beds; and it is recommended to put layers of soil between the layers of logs if you are going to build it more than a couple of feet tall.
What kind of wood should I use?
The question I see the most regarding hugelkultur is, “What kind of wood can I use?” People seem to be afraid to try, in case they get it wrong. But here’s the thing – you probably won’t.
Different kinds of hugelkultur
So, piling up logs and covering them with soil is one way to incorporate the benefits of hugelkultur into your garden build; but there are other ways to use wood in the garden.
How to put a hugelkultur together
The basics of hugelkultur are quite simple – pile up some logs, add a layer of soil and/or organic matter, pile more logs, add another layer of soil and/or organic matter, and so on, until it’s the size you want.
How to plant hugelkultur
Planting a tall hugelkultur is a little different than planting a regular garden. There are many microclimates that you can take advantage of for growing different veggies.
Pile it high!
There is a lot to be said about hugelkultur, and a lot I still don’t know about it; but I think it is a great technique for many situations. However, like anything, not all forms of hugelkultur work for all people in all situations.
What woods take a long time to rot?
things that take a long time to rot are a different story, osage orange, black locust, etc... its more of a waiting game at that point. but chances are you have more trees around than just those type of woods. and those woods are far better used in other ways.
What is the best cedar to grow in a bed?
One thing cedar in a bed is good for growing is Red Huckleberry. If you walk in the woods of the northwest, you'll probably notice that Red Huckleberry is usually growing on a rotting cedar stump or log.
Is wood that has been chemically preserved toxic?
They often have aromatic oils. If it keeps moths at bay it may have a similar effect on seedlings.---. If it's a prefered wood for shingles or fence posts, chances are it will be slow to break down and may prevent growth of desirable plants. Wood that has been chemically preserved should be considered toxic.
Can broadleaf maples grow from stumps?
I'm very wary of willow. (say that ten times fast ). Broadleaf maple is notorious for re-growing from stumps. That's great for my coppice production but I'll make sure that any big maple stumps are dead before they are burried.
Does black walnut rot?
It takes forever to rot and it prevents many other plants from sprouting. In the east black walnut and black locust are known to adversely affect other plants. Please list the worst offenders in your region. If there is a comprehensive list somewhere, please direct us to it.
Is poplar wood good for firewood?
It roots readily from cuttings, grows quickly, coppices well, dries well for firewood and biochar, and rots quickly for hugelkultur. Poplar sucks up a *lot* of water. It's not the "best" wood available for any of these attributes, but it's good at all of them. Pastured pork and beef on Vashon Island, WA.
What is a hugelkultur?
Hugelkultur is an affordable way to create a garden from waste materials, with the potential for less work and sustainable fertility over many years. Over the years, as the wood breaks down inside the bed, the soil level will drop.
What is a hugelkultur raised bed?
A hugelkultur raised bed is a garden in its own right. It can be any size or shape that you wish, although most hugelkultur raised beds are rectangular. Hugelkutur raised beds rely on branches, rotting wood, wooden stumps, and waste wood, as the foundation of a raised garden bed. A hugelkultur bed is like a big compost pile.
What is hugelkultur compost?
Hugelkultur is an ancient form of composting that utilizes woody waste as the carbon substrata, to retain soil moisture and soil fertility. You can utilize the principles of hugelkultur by simply burying wood waste throughout your yard and garden, in order to increase the moisture holding capacity and fertility of your soil. It breaks down slowly over several seasons. A hugelkultur raised bed is a garden in its own right. It can be any size or shape that you wish, although most hugelkultur raised beds are rectangular.
What are the benefits of a hugelkultur garden?
Benefits of Hugelkultur raised bed gardens. 1. Warmer than the surrounding soil. A hugelkultur bed is a decomposing compost pile. So it generates heat. This makes the soil warmer than the surrounding soil. 2. Breaks down over time and so maintains fertility.
How do hugelbeds work?
By putting wood into the ground, the hugelbeds remove carbon from the atmosphere and recycle it to be used as a growing medium and plant fertilizer. 4. Hugelkultur beds are ready to plant, earlier than the surrounding soil. Raised beds are ready to plant earlier than the surrounding soil.
Can you compost a hugelkultur bed?
The finished compost is only necessary if you plan to plant the bed immediately. One can build a hugelkultur bed using wood waste, leaves, needles, and grass clippings and let the compost break down naturally, planting it once the process is almost completed.
Can hugelkultur beds be seeded?
9. When part of a permaculture forest garden, hugelkultur beds can be seeded with mushroom spawn, and will provide additional food growing areas.
Where did Hugelkultur originate?
Well, if either of these scenarios is true for you, you’ll be interested in learning about hügelkultur. Hugelkultur is a gardening technique originated in Germany. It has many benefits, is easy to create, and can help you grow a beautiful vegetable garden with rich soil for years to come.
What is the best wood to use for a garden?
Hardwoods are the best woods to use for this gardening process because they take longer to break down. If you use enough of them, they could supply enough nutrients for your soil to last your hugel garden for 20 years. 3. Extended Growing Season.
What to put in a hugel garden?
Though there are many options for items you can include in your hugel garden, there are some to avoid as well. They are: Black walnut logs or branches.
How tall should a hugel garden be?
Finally, if you don’t want to water your hugel garden all summer long (after year one), you should build your hugel garden to be around seven feet tall. Your garden will compost and decrease in size over the year. Therefore, it should be around six feet tall when you go to harvest.
Does a hugel garden work?
Works in Practically Any Location. Finally, choosing a hugel garden is a wise idea because it works practically anywhere. If you live in a desert location where you get very little rain, this style of gardening should work for you because of the ‘sponge’ in the bottom of your garden.
Do logs help plants?
Since logs take longer to break down , they’ll provide a natural supply of nutrients to your plants over the years. If you’ve ever heard of a no-dig garden, this is the same principle. The difference is with a no-dig garden you must supply fresh woodchips each year to encourage composting to keep taking place.
Can you use dead wood in a huge garden?
Finally, there are a few other tricks you should be aware of when creating a hugel garden. It’s important to use dead wood if at all possible when putting the logs in the base of your garden.
What does a hugelkultur bed look like?
What you gain (in addition to water retention) is that the hugelkultur bed looks just like a regular mounded garden bed, which can be more acceptable to neighbors or family members (assuming you don’t build the bed higher.)
How tall is a hugelkultur bed?
These beds are built the same way as the smaller beds, but they are much larger. This hugelkultur variation can be 4-7 feet tall, or even taller! This means that these beds will be also need to be wider than the smaller beds.
How much wood do you need for a small bed?
If you keep your bed fairly small (about a foot high), you may only have one layer of wood and one layer of soil. By keeping the bed smaller, you don’t need as much wood or soil as you would with a larger bed, but you lose some of the advantages that a larger hugelkultur variation can confer.
Can you harvest the top of a hugelkultur bed?
The lower parts will be easy to harvest, but the top can be hard. Some people have even built wooden scaffolding on the outside and added paths midway up to make it easier to harvest the upper levels of large hugelkultur beds. But these beds will require much more soil and wood to create. (You’ll need large logs.)
Can you reuse soil from a hugelkultur?
The big advantage to this hugelkultur variation is that you can reuse the soil you dug out, so you don’t need to bring in extra soil unless you want to continue to build the bed up.
