Wood Rot for Your Raised Garden Plot

What’s a hugelkultur bed, when would you use it, and how do you say it anyway?

Pronounced something like: Hoogle-culture, this centuries old method of raised garden beds, has migrated to the west and been eagerly adopted by permaculture fans and those with problem soil and terrain.

Who tends nature’s garden? Who is out in the forests and fields adding soil amendments and fertilizer? Just Mother Nature of course.

Modeled after Mother Nature’s example, Hügelkultur (also spelled huegelkultur), translates from German as “hill culture”). Using wood and wood rot along with other natural debris, these elevated garden beds are especially beneficial for those living in or near wooded areas.¹⁾https://www.appropedia.org/Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur raised garden beds are the cheapest and most natural form of gardening.

Nature is the best classroom.

Plant it and Leave it. Well Almost.

Practiced in German and Eastern European societies for hundreds of years, hugelkultur utilizes just three ingredients—like nature—to create an incredibly fertile environment for gardening: wood, soil and mulch.

Brought to North America by Sepp Holzer, an Austrian permaculture expert, this natural form of gardening is becoming increasingly popular because of its nature-friendly, low maintenance, commons sense approach to permaculture gardening. ²⁾https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%BCgelkultur

We started a couple hugelkultur beds last year, and were impressed enough that we’re planning for more. It’s perfect for us because we live in the woods with ample access to hugel bed makings, and some of our garden areas are rocky with poor soil. We also lead very busy lives running multiple businesses, so this low maintenance gardening method is a perfect fit for us. We’re eager to see if we’ll have less trouble with moles in the hugelkultur because they sure tore up some of our row beds this past season. ³⁾https://www.gardensall.com/the-ultimate-raised-garden-bed-permaculture-with-hugelkultur/

Our hugelkultur beds are our best producers so far.
~GardensAll.com

Here’s a small illustration to help get your head into the concept if it’s new to you (sharper visuals of these appear below).

Hill Culture – Modeled After Mother Nature

These nature-modeled gardening methods can be incorporated into virtually any kind of land area. However, hugelkultur is especially conducive to areas near natural woods with ready access to wood and vegetative debris which is the foundation of a hugel bed.

Benefits of Hugelkultur Beds

• Hugels are beneficial for land that may be hard to garden or farm.
• Beneficial for hilly or dry land.
• Constructive use of decomposing natural materials.
• Hugelkultur often eliminates the need for watering.
• Hugelkultur conserves water.
• Increases the surface area for growing.
• Improves the growing medium.
• Increases crop yield with each passing year.

Hügelkultur replicates the natural process of decomposition that occurs on forest floors.

Cover image from A Sepp Holzer Hugelkultur garden.⁴⁾https://www.inspirationgreen.com/hugelkultur.html#sthash.4GQT3VaV.dpuf⁵⁾https://www.inspirationgreen.com/hugelkultur.html

Building a Hugelkultur Bed on Level Land

This 3:22 minute video shows the layering of a hugelkultur garden bed in a level lot.

Very cool, right?

Hugelkultur in Pictures

Now... more for the visual folks: These excellent illustrations perfectly depict a pictorial explanation of hugelkultur.

Toward the end of the growing season, the hugelkultur bed can look more "natural".

Okay, so hugelkultur beds aren't the most beautiful of garden styles. In fact hugel beds can look downright messy, but they work. Plants grow with the least amount of effort from gardeners, because hugelkultur follows the principles of nature!

In winter mode the hugel mimics what's happening in the fields and forests. It's time to harvest the last of the gardens goodies and do a little cleanup. Winterizing your hugel includes removing the desiccated and fading annual plantings and getting the perennials set for winter and next season.

In this interesting video Dan shows how he harvests his fall crops and puts his hugelkultur garden in order for the oncoming winter in zone 9b in California.

The Best Time to Build a Hugelkultur Bed

Anytime is good for starting a hugelkultur bed, but autumn is an especially good time of year. In fall you have an abundance of leaf debris and greater accessibility for gathering limbs and logs from the woods. But whenever it is that you're reading this, start gathering materials and planning because your hugel can begin aging from the moment you start it.

Images from RichSoil.com, online home of Paul Wheaton, "The Duke of Permaculture".⁶⁾https://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

Cover image from A Sepp Holzer Hugelkultur garden.⁷⁾https://www.inspirationgreen.com/hugelkultur.html#sthash.4GQT3VaV.dpuf⁸⁾https://www.inspirationgreen.com/hugelkultur.html

Ready to Hugelkultur?

GardensAll

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