# Anyone doing hugelkultur?



## zombieresponder

For anyone that doesn't know: http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

I've been thinking on building a couple of these for a while and couldn't figure out where to get enough suitable wood to make it worthwhile. As it turns out, a pipeline is coming through one of the neighbor's properties and he's been busy cutting and moving trees. I came home with a 5x10 trailer load of small pecan limbwood and will be going back for a ton more. Guess we finally have something to do with all the dirt from having our back pond cleaned out.


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## majmill

Well my attempt is going to be small time! I cleared a bunch of brush from the side yard and piled it in a ditch. Now I'm waiting for my SIL to bring me a truck load of mulch from the dump. I'm anxious to see if anything will come of it!


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## *Andi

Interesting ... but no ...


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## cowboyhermit

I was just reading up on it this winter, makes a quite a bit of sense, at least in some situations. We have done quite similar things before with good results, but not really intentionally designed in this regard, I had never heard of this as far as I know before about a year ago.
Our land is very hilly, hardly a flat spot around, this looks like an efficient way to do a bit more terracing and really utilize the water


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## Magus

We use mounds of wood chips we get from the local tree removal service.


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## zombieresponder

cowboyhermit said:


> I was just reading up on it this winter, makes a quite a bit of sense, at least in some situations. We have done quite similar things before with good results, but not really intentionally designed in this regard, I had never heard of this as far as I know before about a year ago.
> Our land is very hilly, hardly a flat spot around, this looks like an efficient way to do a bit more terracing and really utilize the water


You would probably get more benefit if you combined this with swales.


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## cowboyhermit

Good point, swales look really good but not so easy for us. 
The places I am wanting some terraces have only a few inches of really good soil, then it is solid clay, tough digging. 
The hills aren't that steep and we don't get ton's of rainfall here yet we 99% don't water anything
In the past I have built terraced beds with logs for instance, right on top of the grass, filling in the log frame with dirt to bring it level. This worked very well but takes a lot of soil to make level. We have more than we need thanks to 100yrs of cow manure and also slough bottoms but it is a lot of work to haul it. So I am thinking of using something more like this with a mound of logs and also trying to build beds like I have before but using logs to form more of the bulk. We have partially filled beds with wood before, but out of laziness not planning


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## Wellrounded

I use a similar method for low feeders in new garden beds. For gross feeders like vegetables this method will not generate enough food. It's fantastic for reafforestation projects and riparian zones.


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## zombieresponder

I'm hoping to get them all built this year. I will probably plant mostly perennials and things that don't look like food. I don't expect any production since the wood is mostly still green and will be pulling a lot of nitrogen out of the soil. Not having to bend over to pick stuff will be a huge improvement. :beercheer:


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## Woody

Never seen that before! Looks interesting to try but I do not have a lot of ‘scrap’ wood around. When I cut a tree for firewood I take it down to branches the size of a pencil, makes for no kindling splitting. Perhaps I can find some wood to sacrifice to give this a try, maybe scrounge in the neighbors woods.


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## twiggie

I've been doing some reading and really want to try this.


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## sgtrunningfool

I am going to try this but instead of mounding it like traditional hugel, I am going to do woody beds. Basically dig into the ground and bury the wood then place compost and soil over the top.


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## zombieresponder

Figured I'd post an update. I've got _some_ wood cut, hauled, and about 30 ft of bed piled. I've got another big stack of wood that I need to move and stack for beds. Bought another chainsaw two days ago and it seems to have sped up my cutting a little. Still have a lot of wood to cut. If I remember, I'll take a few pics of everything that has been cut or will be cut.


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## *Andi

Look forward to hearing about it!


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## Enchant18

Zombieresponder was wondering how it worked out and if you planted any trees in it? 
Within the next two weeks we will be creating a couple of very large ones with timber that had fallen due to fire. I plan to seed as soon as weather permits. Hope you had good luck!


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## biobacon

I am doing it around the edges of my yard. Each year I have added to it and will continue to do so until I have enough of a mound to terrace and then I am going to put in patato beds like I saw when I was in Peru. I figure it will take about another 5 years as Im going. At least that's the plan.


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## Wanderer0101

Please keep providing updates. I've got lots of information on this and really want to try it.


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## Enchant18

My concern is planting trees on an area that will eventually settle. Has anyone planted any small trees or bushes on it?


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## Rain23

I saw this discussed at  and wonder if anyone has used it for a raised flower bed? We have a really ugly stump in the front yard and it's laughable how much landscape companies charge to remove them. We tried digging ourselves and we nearly hit the opposite side of the earth while still sawing roots, so it's not coming up that way. I'm thinking decorative feature covered with butterfly and bee friendly flowers. A friend a few blocks away is trying something like this with an opening left for carpenter bees, also -- if he has success I'll post again with what he did.


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## HardCider

several people around us are doing it. I was thinking of trying it with mushroom spawn, rotten wood and manure


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## LincTex

We also can't go down very deep.

Hoping to combine this process with Lasagna gardening.


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## Enchant18

We ended up with a 200' berm and now have entirely too much area to plant! In my research I read it would require less watering due to the rate of decomposition within it. That's not true in our case.


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## LincTex

Enchant18 said:


> In my research I read it would require less watering due to the rate of decomposition within it. That's not true in our case.


It has required more water than conventional?


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## Tirediron

Won't the decomposing wood create very acidic conditions?? great for potatoes if you can get the soil depth, but a lot of other vegi s don't like acidic conditions, if they exist?


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## Enchant18

It has to be watered just like my regular garden. Other than collecting water off a small woodshed, we haul water in a drum to water.

I've been using the wood chips since last year in our garden and this is the first year I've had fat worms in the garden soil. It also reduced watering and the plants did well. I used the wood chips on everything.


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## Enchant18

I ended up with a 200' long berm after they were done clearing. It's only a third planted so far.


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## tiredsailor

Just recently cleared a portion of a mountain lot for a home site and buried the non- firewood the timber cutters left. Depth about 4 to 6 feet and about 20 feet across. Also had a lot of deadfall form a small fire that had gone through a few years ago. Final result is a berm ranging from 5 to 8 feet high, 4 feet across the top and close to 200 feet long. The back side goes into a swale with a drop of only 3 feet or so. We have begun to plant. So far the strawberries, rhubarb, peppers, and squash are doing well. The collards and kale are struggling. I planted potatoes on one end in trenches on the top and am receiving mixed results. Also put in a couple fruit trees on the berm. The remaining fruit trees (dwarf) went in a level area in front of the berm I had the dozer grade. The rest are on the backside of the swale. I imagine it will take all summer to terrace and plant the entire berm. Should be an interesting summer project on hot Georgia summer days. Since the berm has about five feet of dirt on top of the buried trees I am not worried about it sinking too much in my lifetime but do question if the height of the dirt covering will nullify the desired effects of the nutrient benefits from the decomposing trees. Any thoughts?


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## tiredsailor

Just noticed my lovely wife (enchant18) had also posted a picture of our project . Love teamwork


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## LincTex

tiredsailor said:


> ... in my lifetime but do question if the height of the dirt covering will nullify the desired effects of the nutrient benefits from the decomposing trees. Any thoughts?


I would say yes, your layer of dirt is far too thick.

At this point, you can try "Lasagna gardening", though.


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## Momturtle

We use huglebeds which are combined with swales to control run off. I have seen them made with huge, kind of fresh logs and with lots and lots of semi-rotted limbs. We dig out a contour where we will be putting the logs/wood from the ground and bury them in the hole while mashing in dirt/compost so that it goes in amongst the wood. because it is built up on contour, water coming down the slope is leached into the bed and absorbed by the partially rotted wood. That water is retained pretty well between rains. On top of them we build grow mounds (kind of like the lasagna gardening) which we let rot down over the winter. These work great for things like raspberries/dwarf fruit trees and such. I plant chop and drop cover crops all over it. The deep roots add nutrients to the soil as they break down. The green tops add mulch to conserve the moisture and break down into topsoil all over the bed. They have been working great for us. Oldest one is about 4 years old and the soil is great and we are planting more and more perennials all around on them. They sink down some but the plant roots keep them together pretty well.


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## HardCider

Man you can really tell where you live with that red Georgia clay


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## swinneyswitch

*Hugelkulture*

In a round-a-about way I have been doing this. About a dozen years ago I began an herb garden. Since we live on a lake, there is much tree wood around and I began hauling these up to my herb garden to use as dividers. Thru the years the wood has rotted and enriched the herb garden and made the dirt very fluffy in places. Since it worked so well and was an unanticipated bonus, I kept hauling driftwood up to use and it has kept rotting adding to the soil. As I get older though the branches and logs are going to have to get smaller but there is no end to them. 
:flower:


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## walkeasy

I know a few people who have done this and it can be amazing if done correctly. Not to challenging but a few things to keep straight. An added N source will greatly help with green wood as well as any wood. From what i have seen the PH doesn't change if you are gardening properly such as compost, chop n drop covers as well as lasagna/sheet mulching. Of course you can get away with neglect and still grow stuff. 

I have recently had the opportunity to start over and I am doing a lot of this. here is a recent picture that i have just added a batch of home made compost. I am hoping to start a post with all of my pictures, etc. Almost 100 feet. I have had about 1 to 2 feet of settling so far. after this picture i covered the compost with rotten hay to preserve the soil. 

I still have a bit of clean up as you can see some logs, etc laying around. I have plans for them too...


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## zombieresponder

So I completely forgot about this thread. I haven't gotten any farther than my last update. We have had other projects to stay busy with. I did get a tree planted on the sunny end of the hugel along with a beauty bush.


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## LincTex

I am starting a form of it - I have a pretty steep hill that's pretty rocky, and that I want to plant on - so I am making "terraces" of limbs and wood chips & dirt to see If I can grow anything on it! Dirt is sparse, so I'm using lots of wood to form the shapes I want.


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