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Lasagna horticulture . sail composting . No - till gardening . You ’ve probably come across these and similar gardening techniques before . They are all more or less unlike magnetic variation on building araised bedfrom layer of organic matter , which rots down aright where it is , getting expert and better as it composts in billet . Techniques such as these promise that you may improve tilth , preservesoil complex body part , and produce the garden bed of your aspiration without a luck of backbreaking labor or expensive , imported garden soil .
Although some of these write methods volunteer specific “ formula ” to create ideal , no - till bed , the canonic proficiency is dim-witted : Pile on a lot of constitutive , compostable stuff , and let nature take its course .
The up-to-the-minute seam - building method to turn nurseryman ’ heads is actually an ancient proficiency call hügelkultur . The German word , signify “ mound polish , ” is usually enunciate “ hoo - sucker culture ” in English - speak gardening circles . It is one of many techniques associated with permaculture , a philosophy that look for to understand , mimic and integrate natural relationships and systems into the garden .
Hügelkultur differs from antecedently popularized no - till bed - work up proficiency in a few primal ways :
1. Woody Base Material
Hügelkultur seam are ideally build with a pedestal of log or branches and prunings from woody shrub . The magnanimous the woody stem fabric , the more ego - sustaining you could have a bun in the oven the bed to be over clock time .
2. Size
Hügelkultur beds can be vast . Building beds 6 feet tall or more with entire trees as base material is not rare . At this size , hügels can be used as mature space as well as windbreak and will require picayune to no supplementary irrigation . However , hügels do not need to be enormous to be efficacious . This character of seam offer many advantages to the small - musical scale gardener , even when diminished to a more sane backyard size of it of 2 or 3 feet .
3. Angle of Bed Sides
While most no - till methods make relatively flat beds , permaculture expert Sepp Holzer advocate for a 45 - academic degree ( or steeper ) angle on hügelkultur beds . In bed where the side angle is too shallow , he says the bed become compacted and the oxygen provision is lessen , which is prejudicial to plant growth .
4. Long-Term Soil Fertility
Larger hunks of Sir Henry Wood fracture down tardily , and their uniform decay allow long and even nutritional benefits to the filth and to the plants develop in the hügels .
5. Moisture Retention
As cellulose- and lignin - eat fungi human action upon the woody base material , the log and arm in the hügel break down into something like a sponge . This produce countless bantam air sac and consistent moisture level within the hügel . This combining is very conducive to plant root growth . Small hügels can go weeks without irrigation , while the largest 1 can go intact summers without supplemental irrigation , even in dry climates .
Mound of Possibilities
Assess your web site . Because this technique solution in garden bed with a long - full term soil fertility vantage , it ’s safe to spend some time thinking about how and where to locate your hügel before you start assemble .
Like any garden bed , you require to position your hügel where it will most benefit from the sun . Usually , this think construct the seam so that it go mostly northward to south . Because hügels are mounded , not flat , seam built east to west will have one side always in nuance . Unless you go in a very sunny climate and want to advisedly create a shaded , cooler microclimate , this is n’t ideal . Also , count the prevailing wind direction and how the hügel can be buffered from firm malarky .
opine about the slope of the ground where you will be building your bottom and any wet or body of water runoff issues that your garden has . Strategically placed hügels can pawn up and hold excess water to ripe advantage , but you should n’t set them so that they make a roadblock against the natural flow of water in your garden . If water runs against your hügel and puddle , it can start to countermine your seam .
Feel free to be creative ! A hügel can be made free - shape and does n’t have to be make as a rectangle . In fact , many hügels are ramp up in a wide , open bowl - human body to becharm the most energy and warmth from the sun .
Depending on the projected size of your hügel , you may want to part compile woodsy waste cloth until you have built up quite a collection . Logs , branches , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - trimmings , root balls and similar textile make the ideal base for a hügel , but knead with what you have .
Untreated , unpainted , raw Natalie Wood depart over from construction or structure projects may be incorporated into a hügelkultur . Natalie Wood chip can be used in place of logarithm or branches , but these will result in a more homogeneous hügel with a much flying nitrogen “ burning rate ” and without the same long - term soil fertility advantages of a hügel made from large pieces of Mrs. Henry Wood .
moulder wood is excellent for use in a hügel — in fact , the rotting of the wood is the trick behind this technique — but new - cut Sir Henry Joseph Wood is okay , too . Just recognise that the result of the bottom will improve as the woodwind break down over time , so do n’t gestate the best issue in the first yr if you start with green Natalie Wood .
There are a few kinds of wood to avoid . agree to Paul Wheaton , permaculture expert and founder of Permies.com and RichSoil.com , you should not use cedar , black locust tree , black cherry tree , black walnut tree or any treated woodwind in your hügelkultur bed .
Hügelkultur is an excellent , born recycling proficiency , set aside woody blow to be converted into valuable turn space . For this ground , stress not to corrupt unused wood for your bed . If you do n’t have appropriate materials on site , get creative . Call around to local tree - trimming companies , and ask if they could drop off some branches or combat trimmings next time they are in your neck of the woods . peradventure your city or town is taking down a tree that is interfere with power lines and would welcome aid disposing of the wood .
HÜgel How-Tos
Holzer suggests that you lead off building your hügel by digging out a shallow deep , removing any turf from the area where you will place the seam and setting it aside . However , unless you are building your hügel on top of a peculiarly pernicious eatage , such as Bermuda , this step is not substantive and you may build your bed immediately on top of the lawn . This is less workplace , and in most climates , the sod will interrupt down into beautiful stain once covered with the raised bed .
( Note : An exception to this principle is for gardeners build hügelkultur beds in desiccate climate . In these areas , build up the hügel within a swale can help to call for and trap precious wet and groundwater within the bed . )
lie your woody material in the arena fate for the hügelkultur bed . If you have a variety of size of Sir Henry Joseph Wood , attempt to station the magnanimous while toward the bottom and center of the bed and cultivate outwards with smaller outgrowth and constitutional debris so that your seam is stable .
After the woody theoretical account is built , tamp it down to give it serious contact with the primer coat ( this is particularly significant if you did not initially entrench the area under your hügel ) . Now you need to comprehend up your wood . The simplest room is to dump soil correctly on top of your bag material . Holzer suggests twist upside down the greensward strip take away when trenching for the hügelkultur bed and cover the wood with those . A layer of straw , wimp - coop litter , leaf debris , kitchen compost or half - finished compost also figure out just fine . Hügels are flexible ; habituate what you have to cover the woods in the bed .
You want the top layer of constitutive affair to fill in any big pocket between the woodwind instrument and to cover the bed by several inches . This layer will settle into the woody base naturally , so do n’t compact it or worry too much about small empty opening within the base stratum .
Lastly , add a level of ruined compost or surface soil . you’re able to add as much as you have — a foot , a few in or none at all . add more compost will give your hügel a more finished appearance , but this step is a matter of preference rather than necessary .
Build Your Garden
Your hügelkultur bed is now quick to institute . you’re able to sow it immediately or transplant vegetable starts into the soil pockets within and around the bed .
When I built my first hügelkultur beds last twelvemonth , I was cheerily surprised to find that they held a soil temperature notably higher than my traditional raised seam . Very early on last natural spring , when my traditional raised seam were 42 degrees F , my hügelkultur beds were 47 degree Fahrenheit . A few week later in mid - spring , the filth in the hügelkultur beds was up to 78 degrees Fahrenheit , which is very tender for Seattle in April . Hügelkultur beds will typically be warmer than the surrounding soil for several long time as the woody base material compost in place .
I watered my hügel only three times over the class of the summertime ( my traditional bed were watered twice a week ) , yet still see splendid resultant and lush growth from the beans , squash , peppers , tomatoes , corn and various greens I seeded in that spring . I ’ve only had one problem with the bed : They seem to be magnet for my flock of backyard hens , who are pull to the Brobdingnagian insect universe hold out in and around the beds . They scratch thing up rottenly !
My own experimentation with construction and planting hügelkultur layer have convert me that this technique is an easy way to reduce constitutive wasteland , build top - timbre dirt for devoid and uprise great crops with less irrigation .
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