Building HUGELKULTUR Garden Beds | Shallow Dig Method
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
- Hugelkultur garden beds are quite popular amongst permaculture gardeners and farmers these days. It's surprising that there isn't much scientific research to back it up, but we're trying it for ourselves to see what we can learn.
⌚TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:13 Derecho
1:06 What is hugelkultur?
1:59 How does hugelkultur work?
2:33 Hugelkultur construction methods
3:25 Tips and advice
4:47 Other garden uses for wood
5:14 Detailed build process
7:50 Time-lapse building beds
8:33 Conclusion
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#SomeRoomtoGrow #Hugelkultur #PermacultureGarden 
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⌚TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:13 Derecho
1:06 What is hugelkultur?
1:59 How does hugelkultur work?
2:33 Hugelkultur construction methods
3:25 Tips and advice
4:47 Other garden uses for wood
5:14 Detailed build process
7:50 Time-lapse building beds
8:33 Conclusion
At last a person who speaks slowly and clearly. It is a joy to listen to you.
Glad you think so! I have a hard time listening to my own voice, as most people do.
The termites in my hood would crown me King 😂😂😂
I have done this on a vary large scal. After digging my large plots plots out I used chicken wire to cover the large holes all the way up the sides. Then used chain-link fencing put chicken wire around it! This stopped all Gophers and grounds squirrels From getting into my garden! I was not going to ever have a garden that was going to be unsuccessful again. So I put my back into it.
As it grew I even went further
By adding height And bird netting. This was extremely ambitious but it completely worked! I grew a giant garden where no one else has ever grown in that part of town. People came from all over to check it out. It was amazing how much the community help with everything. I never even had to ask one day my neighbors see me out there digging and asked me what I was planning on doing the next thing I knew he brought over his tractor! The community seem to help me with every step I took. They also took from the bounty. There was so much to be had! Each week I would feel several laundry baskets worth of vegetables for everyone. Don’t be afraid to ask people for help. Don’t underestimate what you can do. And don’t do anything unless you’re all in! Good luck everyone! Oh I also did this in the high desert Sierra Nevada Known for its droughts and lack of water. Please don’t give up on your gardening dreams.
It’s a wonderful thing when you can connect with your community and share the bounty. Happy for your success and wishing you many more fruitful years!
Would LOVE a photo 😊
Stelar vídeo, Greg. This is a true hugel primer.
Thanks, Siloé! Can’t wait to work on our video next :)
This video was produced in a very professional way. From the beginning scenes which was intense, then a very carefully and clear explanation of the subject matter with great photos. Thank you
Thank you!
Agreed, great music too! Just found you, next to see your update.
im chocked by the quality of the montage, congrats from france !
Thank you so much! I had fun working on this one.
It is not necessary to rebuild the beds. Ever. The decomposed wood will hold water just as well, if not better than whole wood. Also, it's not until the third year that Hugul beds really get going, because the wood needs to get somewhat saturated with nutrients and water. If you don't live next to a lake or pond, high-nutrient stuff like manure won't be a problem. Besides, if you do it properly the leaching will be minimal due to the wood soaking it up.
That's good to know, thanks! Time will reveal all.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Yes! The wood below the top soil is sponge like!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow It makes soil, basically, so over time, you have simply have a pile of super soil! 😁 So, the in-ground method you chose, you will simply be left with amazing soil. You don't need to "rebuild" anything. I use sunflowers and clover for cover crops. The sunflowers feed wildlife and create gobs of more organic matter (just saw their trunks and lay them atop the bed, leaving roots in place), and the clover is nitrogen fixing.
We actually just used a blend between Method #2 & #4...we dug shallow (1ft) beds in the ground, filled them with logs, then built 18" raised beds around the holes and filled them with branches, leaf litter, mulch, compost, and finally soil. Then planted a cover crop on top and are letting them rest/grow over winter. To the naked eye, they look like normal raised beds. But the material within them should build soil and give nutrients over the next decade or more. And true, the lumber did cost money, however between the soil we dug out and the wood & plant material we harvested from the forest behind our house...all the fillings of those beds we're free!! Your video is a great introduction to Hugelkulture! Hope you're growing season was amazing...and continues to flourish year after year!
That’s awesome! That sounds like what I was planning to do at first, but I decided to skip the wood frames to save money and because the beds would be pretty close to each other. The frames would have made it harder to move between the beds and we couldn’t space them out much more. Otherwise, your whole process sounds almost identical to ours! We had great success with it and I’m super stoked for this year. I’m sure yours will do very well and I wish you many years of delicious veggies! Thanks for watching!
Such beautiful, well done videos!! I can’t wait for the follow up to see how it grew. We’re trying the #1 method this year because we have land, tons of rotting logs, tons of horse, chicken and goat manure, a huge pile of topsoil, tons of leaf mold, and a backhoe. Wish us luck!
Thank you very much, Carolyn! That all sounds amazing and I hope it works out well for you!
This was amazing!! I cant wait to see an update! Lovely work!
Thanks! I made an update video recently and I'll have to do another one soon because they're doing quite well!
Well made video, thanks!
Very professional.
Your videos are VERY well done. Informative and well edited. Keep it up. I’m becoming a die hard follower
Thank you so much!
Instant subscribe. Great production value, right to the point content.
Much appreciated! I wish I could put this much time into all of my videos.
You did a great job! The holes were perfect and not collapsing while you dug them out! I have raised hugelk beds. And I use mesh cloth on bottom of bed before I fill them to detour voles, mice anything that would want to ge into it. After it was all done. I thought. Has anyone ever asked. Do you gave graves in the yard 🤣 That’s what it looked like. You have great filler in them too! I bet they did fantastic 👍
Thanks! Yes they did incredibly well. I was aware even when I first started digging that people might be suspicious. Thanks for watching and good luck with your hügel beds!
Very high quality video. Really nice work :)
Thank you! 😊
Informative and entertaining. Best seen on subject.
Thank you very much!
This was so helpful, thank you! We’re about to try our first one
That’s great! I just published an update video on these now that we’re starting to grow veggies in them. Best of luck with yours!
Informative!
Great effort in building these beds.
Those beds are Beasts!!! Well done.
What a great use for all that material.
I have thought many times about doing a bed like this and I still most likely will.
I have learned through watching other gardeners building these beds that whole round logs take sooooo long to break down.
I've learned that trees break down differently in the soil than they do above ground.
Their outer layer isn't designed to break down under ground, but above ground. The fungi that lives above ground is different than the fungi that lives under ground.
It takes the soil organisms a very long time to break down fresh cut large whole round logs vs already decaying or split logs.
Essentially the shell/bark layer of the trees is very tough and doesn't break down as fast under ground as it does above. Seems crazy but true. Once that outer layer is removed or damaged the soil organisms will have no problem breaking up the interior of logs.
I know I'm too late watching this video and you're already done building them.
I just wanted you to have an idea of what to expect in 5 years, maybe even 10 years down the road those logs wont be soil yet.
For anyone out there reading this thinking of building a bed, if you can use old rotted logs, or drill lots of holes, try to split or break them apart as much as possible before you bury them with soil. Also make sure to fill every little air pocket with dirt and brown and organic material.
I do think these beds are a great way to use up materials and build soil fertility.
I would still add a thin layer of compost on top of the beds each fall or spring to ensure new plants will have the nutrients they need while the rest of the mound breaks down in time.
I know of someone that buried a large pile of brush and logs for close to 20 years (brush that was already slightly broken down) and when digging it up this past year found that there was still large logs on the bottom of the pile.
Don't get me wrong, there was tons of "black gold" and lots of soil life inside this pile too, but still a lot of whole logs that were just started to rot. Amazing.
Just do your research and know what to expect, that's all I'm saying.
Cheers
Happy gardening!
Thanks for the great input! I always hope people are reading the comments because you can often learn a lot more than what's in the video.
I imagine these beds will take a very long time to break down and that's okay with me. I want them to continue feeding the soil for many years. Before we start growing in them, I plan to add a little bit of compost on top and cover the beds with wood chip mulch.
And yes, it's always recommended to use wood that's already been rotting for a few years. I hope it wasn't a bad idea to use somewhat fresh cut wood, but it is Silver Maple, so it may decompose faster than most other species. I also hope I'll be able to document the progress over the next 10+ years here on youtube!
Thanks for watching and sharing your knowledge, happy gardening!
Nothing wrong with a nice, tall brush pile in the back of the property for the wildlife!🐦⬛
Good sharing my friend 🤝🤝
Great video. Really helpful!
Thank you!
Wow I did this on the plot some 15 years ago without even knowing it had a name!! ha ha ha. No wonder all the fruit trees I planted on that 500 square meter raised area are thriving! Thanks for the video. I learn so much from you!
That’s great! It does seem to work quite well, I’m glad I tried it, too.
Love this idea of placing some logs on top of the ground for nature, but I'd frequently check under them for slugs near my veggies
For sure! We’re fortunate to be slug-free, at least so far. But that should always be a concern with anything lying flat on the ground.
very useful information. Thank you very much.
You’re welcome!
quite a few folks here use Hugelkultur gardens and not necessarily a mound. In a subdivision where homes are being built (or maybe you get a garage added on etc...) we ask the backhoe driver to dig an area out usually fairly deep could be 2-4 ft deep. Ask the Backhoe operator to use the bucket to sweep all the tree branches, roots, stumps paper from shingles and anything else you want into the hole. Then he puts dirt back on top. You do have a mound first, but as you can imagine it all settles over a couple of years. After a while it is flat and you add in whatever amendments trip your trigger. And they've been doing it since there were backhoes. Ideally you have your pile staged and ready. IT take him about 15 minutes for something like
a 10x25. He charge me $40 since he was already there and just paid for his time and gas. It will last decades and vnever compacts.
That's a great opportunity to borrow some heavy equipment for a job like that. Sure beats digging by hand!
Love hugelkulture and use this method
That’s great!
Great video. I got a lot of information.
Keep us updated please.
Thank you! I’ll be talking about these beds a lot over the next few years.
Thanks for the great video with truly fun graphics! And hope you are as surprised as i was when I began realizing how much less water the plants needed and how much juicier and larger certain vegetables were growing!!!
Thank you, glad you liked it! I wasn’t too surprised, but very happy to see how well everything grew last year.
Right on brother! Hugelkultur is happening! Wife and I had the best tomato's ever from using that method! Thanks for sharing it!
That’s awesome! Our garden was quite abundant last year from these beds. Can’t wait for another round this year. Thanks for watching!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow THANK YOU FOR SHARING! POW!
So cool to have a gardening vlogger closer to home. Nebraska here. Sorry for the wind we were mostly spared in Lincoln. I lost a few big limbs during a micro burst in June. Took out my shed. Most everybody else I watch are from South Carolina or So. CAL. My favorite is Jess at Roots and Refuge in Arkansas.
I’m sorry about your shed! Yes, there really aren’t too many channels from the upper Midwest close to me, aside from Patrick at One Yard Revolution in Chicago, and he hasn’t posted any new videos for over a year. I’m surprised there aren’t any big channels in Iowa. It’s Corn Capital!
This video is super legit 👌
Thanks!
Nicely done
Thanks!
Had some trees taken down and was going to remove logs but instead decided to use logs as border. Gives a nice natural look and love seeing how wildlife appreciates the fallen trees.
I started to do this method last year in raised beds as my ground too rocky dig. Things grew nice and looking forward to this years planting.
I love making the borders with logs. They’ll feed the soil for years and they look great! I’m always happy to hear the hügel method is working for other gardeners, too. 👍
Awesome video presentation.
Thanks!
This, use this method for making swales on our low slope hillside. Amazing method. I would have milled that log though, we use woodchips for hugelkulture ;)
I was able to throw in some of the wood chips from the tree. We’ll see how long it takes for the big pieces to break down.
Melhor video sobre o assunto!
Muito obrigado!
I use this method on fence lines like a berm then plant food trees & shade trees & edibles like pumpkin & sweet potato, ginger into it
They end up as a self sustaining food forest & cool zone in summer & frost protection in winter. Plus they retain massive amounts of water that feed your whole zone.
I really like that, it sounds awesome!
Thank you for a very informative and we'll edited video. An example among all those long winded videos now saturating RUclips. I know it's a monetary thing because of greedy RUclips changing it money making rules, but still irks me that people are now making 20 min videos with 3 minutes of actual content and think it's ok.
Anyway, good job on those beds and I hope you don't have any nosy neighbors who call the cops on you because they think you've buried a bunch of bodies in your backyard! 😂
Thank you very much! I also get frustrated with long-winded videos, or the ones that could’ve been better as a podcast because they’re not giving any visual information. I think some creators try to make longer videos so they can put in mid-roll ads to make more money. I just try to give each topic the time it deserves and keep it entertaining.
At least I have video proof of what went into those beds!
Nice video!
Thank you!
Nice explanation! I just uploaded a video where I tried this. I actually broke a lot of the rules, but it was still super successful!
That’s awesome! There are many ways to do it, but the concept is always the same. It can be hard work in the beginning but it’s worth it. Hope you have even more success with it!
We don’t bury ours but , my excavator brought truck fulls in and put them to the back of property and it’s blocks wind and gives shelter to critters .
this is great. i saw it for the first time on 'homestead rescue'...5-6 years? i don't know that i'm going to last that long!! LOL
I hope it works as well as people say it does!
Great music timing.
Thanks! I made sure to get that right.
instead destroying trees we can be able to use Forest as building blocks then tearing blocks. I love the Teal colors. I hope you can this wise advise why? We can be able to change the world in 2 ways not just 1 we can be able to grow gardens in trees and grow them on the trees and we could make a new species
We do this by. Having sheep. I fell smaler leaf trees in spring and drought for sheep to eat, leave the trees laying around for a season or two, they start rotting and growing fungus. Pile the trees in a row, vertical to slopes. Pile the sheeps winter bedding on top of the trees, leave to compress, help along by jumpping on top, the rotten trees will snap and compact. When you have time and the pile has compressed dig a swale on the upper side of the pile, pile the soil on top, let it rest. Start planting trees on the edge between swale and hugel.
This sounds like a great process, thank you for sharing!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow well its a lazy persons alternative, but leaving trees on the ground really seems to speed up their decomposition. Also its easy to break them up into pieces when they become brittle.
hugel gang i went the same route
termite heaven
That’s not always the case. I plan to dig into the beds to examine them this summer, so we’ll see what we find!
Very cool. I live in Dubuque, near where the Derecho hit, at the base of a bluff. Thinking a Hugel might be a good way to control runoff and give a little shape and interest to my small backyard. Nice example. Hope it's performing well for you.
Hello in Dubuque! The hügel beds have done very well for us in the last two years.
Been doing this for my whole life. I didn't know it was a method. I use logs for my borders though. I dont like buying anything. If you have access to a willow tree willows have natural rooting hormones it's great for compost material.
That’s awesome! It’s great to save money and the natural resources work better in the long run. I love the way our food forest looks now with log borders.
👍 Всё ок .Но грядку нужно мульчировать соломой или травой .Влага будет дольше держаться и ветер не истощится почву . Спасибо за обзор.
Спасибо! Грядки засажены клевером для зеленой мульчи для увеличения плодородия. Я буду покрывать их древесной стружкой, чтобы удерживать влагу. Надеюсь, это правильно переведено для вас!
Mix in a bunch of crushed coals and maybe not have to be rebuilt for ages.
This method of gardening has been around for centuries, NOT a German idea was just made popular in the late 60s I believe after the release of a book.
That’s true! My mistake on the wording for that. German word for an Eastern European method from a long time ago. Thank you for pointing that out.
i think putting a raised bed outer wall would do well to shape it nicely and look perfect. but good job.
Thanks! It might prevent some of the weeds from creeping in at the edges. The beds are pretty close together so it may be a little tight.
It looks like you buried 3 bodies. I'm surprised no one called the police on you. Very cool. Is this how your dirt nutrients went off the charts?
That seems to be the running joke! No, that was our old raised bed garden where I used too much municipal compost. These hügel beds have been a major improvement from that.
Sepp Holzer says hugelkultur is a soil building method and not to plant trees on them because the mounds will subside over time. They're meant to ;) Build new ones in other places where you want to improve soil. Where the old ones have broken down, you already have that benefit ;)
Yup! I made sure to mention that in the video, too. These beds have already settled A LOT in the first year! I'll have to show that in an upcoming video.
Are there particular crops that seem to do best on these beds, or just anything?
You may find info online that recommends growing different crops at different times based on how much nitrogen they need. We didn’t worry too much about that. We’ve grown all the crops we used to grow in regular beds and everything has done very well here.
We had a derecho sweep through the mid-atlantic. Came out from the Ohio valley, moving south-east just obliterating everything.
I was working at Home Depot at the time (2021/2013). Was scarey af lol
They're quite scary! Just a few days ago, Cedar Rapids finally finished cleaning up the debris from the derecho on Aug 10, 2020.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow I was working when it hit. Was nice an sunny, then the sky turned grey and then pitch black.
Winds had the metal roof going nuts and every time someone ran into the store the door opened and it blew torrential rain in after them.
Hearing the winds and then looking around and all the fun things that could instantly be lethal projectiles was a sobering thought! Lol
Ive lived here for 40 years and NEVER seen a storm come from that direction before, or since. Just wild!
Thats not surprising we were, cleaning up for years afterward as well :/
Well I'm glad the building didn't come apart on you! I can't imagine how loud that must've been.
Your neighbors are going to think you buried a some bodies
It looked that way for awhile, but no cops have been called yet.
Hi there by far this is the best video I could find. Can you do an update on your video?
I would love to see how that worked for you.
❤️🌿❤️
Thank you, I'm happy to hear that! And yes, I am planning to do an update after my next video.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow
Thank you for responding so quickly.
I would love to see the results, gonna subscribe to your channel 🌿
@@anafindlay4036 excellent, thank you!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow
Hi there I just subscribed looking forward to your wonderful channel!!
🌳🌿🍄🌳🌿
Thank you for subscribing, I have a lot planned for this year (and beyond)!
Derecho - Ahh one of us.
Another Midwesterner?
Marion.
Go Hawks!
@@AaronRupp nice! Go Hawks!
9:00 Why would you need to rebuild the beds after 5 years? for the nutrients? or does the mound really settle back down?
Thanks for diddly darn watching, Ned! Yes, there have been studies showing that the bed may not be releasing a significant amount of nutrients after 5 years. However, some of my viewers have said their beds lasted much longer. Only time and regular soil testing will show us how our own beds perform.
I still have HUGE rounds laying in the yard still from the derecho. We're out in Marion. I have been debating whether to bury in ground or build wood frame. My issue is that the soil is hard like clay. Digging is no issue. But do I throw that dirt back on? Get better soil to throw on top? Mix with something?
Oh wow, hello from Iowa City! I imagine our soils are pretty similar since we’re so close to each other. We also have a lot of clay and silt. I did not add anything to it, just the layering process you see in the video. I did this to save money and I’m going to keep wood chip mulch on top to maintain good soil structure/fertility. Our soil is quite good here so I don’t think it’s necessary to amend it with a hugel bed.
You can use your native soil but mix compost into it, at least 3-5% by volume
Biochar is a great way to loosen up clay soil from what I've read. I can't try it myself, because i have reverse problem - soil in my garden is too light and sandy, but it makes sense - pieces of charcoal mixed with clay should fluff up the soil, improving aeration and drainage.
Is it necessary to dig when your creating hugelkultur bed? I hate removing weeds i just wanna start by sheet mulching weeds with cardboard then start hugelkultur bed
No, you don’t have to dig. I covered that in the video with the different ways to build a hügelkultur bed. You can do it just the way you wrote in your comment 😁
Can I plant right away after making a hugelkulture bed?
Great question! As the woody material starts to decompose it will be using a lot of nitrogen. Cover crops are the best thing to plant right away, as they'll fix more nitrogen, but it's better to wait at least a year before planting food crops. This way, the decomposing material and the cover crops will have some time to improve soil fertility.
Indigenous American people had a similar mound culture. Probably figured out by many groups worldwide over time ;) We did very much the ame thing you are doing with Multiple tree we took down around our New Jerey home not long before Hurricane andy hit (Gue which key ha quit working on my laptop? lol)
I've read about that, too. I think people have known for a very long time how organic matter is great for the soil. Whereabouts in New Jerey? 😂 I grew up in Sparta and my family left when I was 8.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow We were in Jackson.
Where about in Iowa are you? I'm going to be trying this method, because our utilities are buried through the backyard, and I would love to see it in person
That’s awesome, I hope it works well for you! But I hope you can understand that I don’t feel comfortable revealing exactly where I live. I hope it’s enough to be able to see the hügel beds in my videos. I plan to do a lot more on them this year.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow yes, I completely understand. I shouldn't have even asked. I'll see if I can find something around the state that is done on public property.
No worries. I’m sure there are a few permaculture farms in the state that may have hügel beds.
Hi! What direction do you think the hugelkultur beds should face? North/south or east/west?
Good question! If you’re on level ground, the beds should be aligned north/south so the sun can reach the whole bed through the day. I set up trellises to grow tomatoes on the north end of the beds so they don’t shade out everything else.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Great. Thank you very much for the helpful reply!
You’re welcome!
the worm relocation 🥺
I just didn’t want them to get hurt in the process of digging.
I live in the south and have mostly pine trees on my property, if I use pine will my soil be too acidic for vegetables?
Great question! I checked out permies.com (for permaculture info) and many people have said they use pine for hügelkultur. Make sure to use logs that have already been rotting so much of the acidity will have gone away. I’m sure it will be fine for growing veggies.
Holzer used pines
very interesting, now we had to cut down a large area of pine trees, can I use them for big logs, branches and needles instead of leaves or just burn them. We have nearby pine beetles so we decided to cut the trees before infestation spreads.
Yes you can! Lots of permaculture gardeners have used pine in their hugel beds and it works great. It may take a bit longer to break down because of the sap.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow sadly this morning after posting my comment I heard those nasty pine beetle larvae munching in most of the logs. Is it a no no? or are they going to die once covered with compost?
That's unfortunate. I'm really not sure what might happen. It's possible that they could be smothered by soil and compost in a hugel bed. Here's a link I found with more info about them. Hope it helps! entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/southern_pine_beetle.htm
@@SomeRoomtoGrow thank you for the link, I'm going to burn everything and use only the oaks that got broken by cutting all those pines
You’re welcome! That’s probably a safe bet.
Has anyone used saphrophytic fungi for accelerated decomposition.
I don't have any experience with fungal inoculants. In this case, I wouldn't want to speed up decomposition because that may release nutrients too quickly. I would prefer it to take several years to feed the soil.
There is a theory to add/use already mature, decomposing logs from the forest as mycelium "boats." The fungi that grows naturally on decomposing logs is carried into the mound and accelerates the soil building properties.
Would it be wise to plant a nitrogen fixed cover crop over top of each bed to help break it down by adding the cover. If it's gonna rest for a period of time my thoughts were it couldn't hurt.
That’s exactly what I did with these! I mention it toward the end of the video. I used crimson clover and it did a great job adding fertility and increasing soil life for the next year’s garden.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Awesome, I am Eden method but have thought about trying this but the two look similar in many ways but are different. Now I know and still may do a few of these. I have many dead fall trees in my area and we have burn bans for most of the year. This would work to get those rotting logs to good use.
Absolutely! There are many ways to use dead wood and let it slowly fertilize the soil for years.
Some important life skills you should develop for this might include using an mini excavator, skid steer and chainsaw. Months of work could be done in a day and if you sell or move it is no big deal to do it again.
Very true! Those methods also cost more money, which I didn’t have much to spare at the time I filmed this.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow the job you did by hand looks great. I have done similar projects by hand so I feel you pain and understand your joy of accomplishment.
Thanks for this! What did you use for your ground cover? The seeds you put down?
You’re welcome! I planted Crimson Clover ☘️ You can see it in a few of the videos I made after this, though it didn’t have time to flower.
Can you use decaying wood from the forest in the bed or will you get problems with unwanted fungi?
You can absolutely use wood from the forest if you live in a wooded area. You’re going to get fungi growing in the bed no matter where the wood comes from. It’s all part of the natural process!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow I took that advice and went out in the forest and found decaying branches. Large and small. They are really decayed, hope it is not too much. This may not be the ideal way to start a hugelkulture, but at least it is a start. So I appreciate your quick reply. And one should check if your local regulations allows to do this kind of stuff. In the country I live in, the wilderness can be used by everyone who behave basically. It is totally legal to i.e. burn deadwood in the nature. Edit: Last sentence was not completed before posting.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Again thank you :)
Awesome! I'm sure it will still work quite well for a hugel bed. Yes, everywhere is different, so it's good to know what's allowed in your area before trying anything like that.
You're welcome, I hope it works out for you!
You eventually will have a major problem with the adjacent tree roots invading your beds.i hope you do a video about this because it’s a problem not often talked about but very important.
That is a good point and could be a problem for some situations, but in our case, the tree roots that I had to cut through were from the tree that we just cut down and used to make these beds. Those roots are adding to the soil fertility as they break down. We don’t have any other large trees growing close enough to the beds for any active roots to be a problem.
Updates from this summer?????
Check out my most recent video!
Are carpenter ants and aphids a problem from the rotting wood?
We haven't had any issues with those, at least in our area.
Can trees be grown with permaculture?
With permaculture: yes. In a hügelkultur bed, it’s not recommended because the bed will sink and flatten out over time.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow thank you bro
i have done this method in my greenhouse. i discovered that now, in june, my soil temperature 1 foot down is 105 degrees. it's from the wood composting below. i'm thinking it's affecting my plants. no one talks about this issue.
I'm sorry to hear your plants are suffering. If you bury a lot of green matter, it can definitely give off some heat as it decomposes, just like a compost pile. This can be an advantage in colder climates, but otherwise it may cause problems. We used mostly woody material in these beds, and I haven't checked the soil temperature yet, but so far we haven't seen any issues from it.
I'm growing tomatoes, chard, kale, peppers, cabbage and onions in these raised beds. Tomatoes, kale, chard, cabbage, peppers are enjoying this heat.
My tomatoes are already touching the top of the greenhouse. I'm already eating the tomatoes. Only onions are slow growing.
We are in Arkansas, lots of rain here and fungus. So I'm getting all sorts of strange fungus spewing up from the earth. Probably from the dead wood.
In comparison the temperature outside was around 68 in my 1 foot high raised beds and my tomatoes struggled and never grew. Probably due to all the rain we have been getting. Interesting process. Looking forward to the fall/winter to see the earth's temperature and how the crops fare. Thank you.
That's good to hear most of your plants are doing well. We have a lot of mushrooms popping up from the hugel beds, too, and I'm sure it's from the wood. It seems to be working very well for the plants. The tomatoes have already grown 2+ feet in the last week since I made this video and the Sungolds are just starting to ripen. Best of luck with your garden!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Best tomatoes I've ever grew was with this method. Again, thanks for sharing it with those who are not familiar...
What is this sound track? Foghat?
I don’t have that kind of money 😂 most of the tracks on this video are an artist from the RUclips audio library, called the Mini Vandals.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow
Well.... It's nice sounding.
Who is playing that great hill country blues?? Do tell.
Haha it’s awesome, isn’t it? It’s a group called Mini Vandals that has tracks in the RUclips audio library for creators. I think they have some tracks on their own channel.
Now hope the cops don't show up thinking you have three bodies in your back yard lol. J/K
I have to trim large branches that hang over my yard from a neighbour's hackberry. This is their fate. ;)
I've been waiting for the neighbors to call. At the very least, I'm sure they think I'm super weird. And they're right!
I thought that too!
I was thinking the same thing. Neighborhood busy bodies call cops on your secret family plot. 😆😆😆
Snitches get stitches
I did this beneath raised beds I built in our front yard. Three neighbors came over to inquire if I was building/burying coffins! LOLOLOL!!!
I'm not sure you can avoid nutrients leaching out to the surrounding soil, that is inevitable 🤷🏻♀️ if you could explain why not and how to avoid that, it would be helpful
That’s true, it will happen no matter what. In the video I did mention that you can reduce the amount of leaching by limiting the volume of nutrient-rich material. Nutrient toxicity can cause growth problems in surrounding vegetation and lead to hypoxia in nearby ponds, lakes or streams.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Oh thank you!!! I learned something there!!! 😊 what would be an ideal distance from water and also it wouldn't be a problem if the leaching occurred near fruit trees and gardens would it?
I can't really guess on a minimum distance as it would rely on many other factors, but a hugelkultur bed definitely should be right next to any major water feature that supports aquatic life. But again, it wouldn't be a big problem if you use mostly woody materials in the bed and avoid large amounts of nutrient-rich organic matter. We had a problem with phosphorous toxicity in an older garden from using too much rich compost. All of our plants suffered health problems. If you create a healthy balance of materials in a hugel bed, anything growing in and around the bed will benefit from the fertility it provides.
won't that attract termites?
Sometimes that can happen, but you can prevent it by making sure to fill in all of the air pockets with soil and compost.
Update video of this please.
Thanks for your interest! I’m working on an update right now and it’ll be out this Sunday.
Considering the amount of work it takes to create a bed, I don't understand why you did not take a little bit of extra time to split the logs into smaller pieces - on the basis that the more surface area of the wood exposed to moisture, earth, and other materials, the faster it would decompose.
I didn’t have any way to split the larger pieces. The axe is only practical on smaller pieces and I don’t have a chainsaw. Also, I’m okay with it taking longer to break down so it feeds the soil for many years. It may decompose rather quickly anyway since Silver Maple rots faster than most other species.
The design of Huglekulture is to start with large logs and progressively add smaller and smaller components until you reach the outer soil layer. The idea is the small material breaks down soonest, generally within months...the small to medium branches break down over the first few years, providing carbon and nutrients...while the large logs can take decades to fully decompose. As this method has matured and is studied further, there is evidence that this process of not only physically stacking, but designing the organic process through the temporal stacking of nutrients could potentially build soil in a garden for 100 years or more. And as humanity is currently on the brink of a topsoil crisis, long-term forward thinking processes like this are an essential addition to the landscape.
Five to six years? Those large rounds will take dozens of years to break down, if not longer.
You’re probably right! I may dig into a bed later this year to see how it’s going after 3 years.
Literally 90% of the trees I have to cut down are black walnut :'(
That's unfortunate!
Dude you have to plant like this on a hill side it has to trap water you cant just put this kind of bed in a back yard on flat ground.. you have to put it on a hil side...
A hugel bed on a hill side may soak up more water, but that doesn't mean a bed on flat ground won't work at all. It just won't hold onto water as well and may need supplemental irrigation. You can also create swales to collect water next to the beds. These 3 beds are close enough together to trap some water for each other. Overall, these beds have required significantly less water than our traditional raised beds.
Most of these Hügelkultur videos are actually discouraging because they are so labor intensive. Why can't you build a Hügel mound right on the ground? Why add the labor and ground breaking step? Thanks.
I actually explain the various methods in the video 2:35. You can make a bed without digging, but you have to buy or find soil elsewhere. We did it by digging so we could save money and use our own soil.
probably to create dirt to add to the layers. the less space the faster the decomposition.
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Kööl
Thänk jë!
Hugo....why...?
I really don't know
Lasting 6 years seems to make no sense as the whole reason for doing this is to enrich the soil. It's so much more enriched then before. Those massive logs aren't going tobe decomposed in only 6 years, also.
"being able to grow food maybe a better survival skill than having guns."
I wholeheartedly agree.
The music is ridiculous and far too loud
Thank you for the feedback