Can you do hugelkultur in raised beds?
Hugelkultur is German for hill culture or hill mound. It basically means building a raised garden bed using wood materials or wood shavings to pile up in a mound. You then layer on compostable materials and soil until you have a raised bed, usually 1-2 feet high, to plant your garden in.
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.
How deep should hugelkultur beds be?
To create a hügelkultur garden, Masabni said a trench about eight to 10 inches deep and two to three feet wide must be dug to hold larger material such as logs that will create the base support for the mound. Logs should be covered with progressively smaller woody debris from small tree limbs to twigs.
How long does hugelkultur last?
The number of years you get out of your hugelkultur and hugel bed will depend on the density of the wood originally used to build it. Typically, it will last from around eight to 10 years. However, if you are able to use hardwood trees, you may get as many as 20 years of great gardening out of it.
What can you not put in a hugelkultur bed?
Next, lay the woody material into the dug-out area, starting with large logs or downed trees. Add a layer of branches and twigs. A mix of hard and softwoods is recommended. Avoid using woods that are slow to rot such as locust, cedar, or redwood or any that release toxins that inhibit plant growth such as black walnut.
How do you fill a hugelkultur raised bed?
When you build a hugelkultur bed, you’re using wood to make up a little less than half of the material to fill your raised beds. Other materials such as grass clippings, food scraps, coffee grounds, and the like can be used to fill in around your wood to speed its decomposition process.