A hugel bed ( also known as hugelkultur ) is basically a garden bed fill with log . In possibility , the log will absorb rainwater like a sponge , allow for less frequent lachrymation of the bed . As the log offend down , they provide a steady flow of nutrients . To make a hugel layer , dig about a foot down into the soil . ( To avoid digging , some people have just built the layer on top of the grunge or create a small bod like a raised seam . ) Place logs , offshoot , and sticks into the oceanic abyss . Cover the logs with upside - down sward , grass clip , compost , manure , leaves , etc . Top with stain and mulch , and then plant your seeds .
For a more in - depth look at hugelkultur , agree outInspiration Green . It picture some successful beds and gives recommendations for types of wood.RichSoil.comalso has just advice about hugel bed .
Some citizenry report amazing success with hugel beds , and others adjudge them as failure . I ’ve had average success but have learned a few thing along the way that should make the bed do better in the future .
1 . Mulch does n’t like to stay on the bed . I ’ve try combinations of leaves , Gunter Wilhelm Grass clipping , sess slip , and wood chips . All it took was one storm to dampen the mulch to the Qaeda of the bottom . Leaves were the worst choice , and Gunter Grass clipping hold on the longest . Dense plantings help keep the mulch in place .
2 . Some plants have grow well for me on the hugel bed and other plants have n’t . Kale , radish , and lambsquarter have been the most successful . Tomatoes and squash died from deficiency of piss after the mulch go away . flora with bass taproot can be planted toward the top of my hugel bottom , but shallow - rooted plant do well near the radix .
3 . Hugel bed = shaded areas . The height of the bed causes various area to be shadow throughout the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . If planned correctly , this can be helpful during the hot summer months .
4 . shiner love the hugel seam . There are crevices between the logs that dirt did n’t fulfil in , so I find new mice holes in the side of the bed every year . There are few crack as the stain settle down and the log decompose , so I ’ve only determine one hole this year . The mice have n’t caused a job except the sentence they dug a young mess near a flora and uprooted a couple of radish . My bed has about 3 bed of logs . To prevent mouse - sized crevice , I should have added compost , manure , or stain in between the layers of logs instead of just on top .
5 . pismire screw the hugel bottom during wet weather . When the soil is too wet , ants turn to the hugel bottom for protection and build mounds on top of the bed ’s mulch . I splash diatomaceous earth on them , which caused them to move their mound 2 feet over . They suppose they ’re clever , but I have a 25 pound bag of the clobber .
6 . Some people theorize that the log will trap nitrogen in the initial stage of disintegration , causing a nitrogen deficiency in the works . I have n’t find this to be the case , but I occasionally irrigate the seam with dilute urine just in case .
I have n’t found the hugel seam to be as user - well-disposed as a steady garden bed , so I ’ll keep it but I wo n’t build another one . Or perhaps I ’ll reckon out the trick to a successful seam and transfer my idea .
Do you have a hugel bed ? What are your thoughts and experience with it ?
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