Hugelkultur
pansyface
PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 21,262
Has anybody tried hugelkultur? How to do you top it up or do you just let one lot die a natural death and move on to the next one? Are they any good?
Apophthegm - a big word for a small thought.
0
Posts
Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood.
Yes, but is it a superior form of raised bed with better results or is it just a lot of effort for no added value?
Hi pansyface. Well I've sort-of tried it.
We borrowed the buried logs idea when we built a couple of conventional framed raised beds this year. The bottoms were dug out down to about 300mm, then backfilled with loads of branches, twigs & small logs packed in tight and trampled down, and then made very wet.
A load of grass clippings went on top, then the first of two tiers of a mix of well-rotted stable manure & topsoil (each about 200mm or so deep).
It took quite a while for the filling to completely settle due to all the voids down below, but we did get some excellent results. I would expect it to take at least 2-3 years for the woody stuff to completely break down.
I would say the most obvious benefit was the capacity to remain moist below ground. We had relatively little rain in Kent this summer.
Hugelkultur: Composting Whole Trees With Ease
http://permaculturenews.org/2012/01/04/hugelkultur-composting-whole-trees-with-ease/
Our hugelbeds under construction:
Oh gosh, well done!
It sounds like a good idea for things like runner beans.
Not so sure about it in our area now that you describe it. No shortage of rainfall here - ever.
Thanks for the reply.