How to Set Up a Hugelkultur Garden Bed
Homesteaders are notorious for being practical. If a tree needs to be chopped down, why not use the wood to heat your house or repurpose it into building a new coffee table? Better yet, why not use that fresh-fallen timber to make a hugelkultur garden bed!
Hugelkultur (pronounced hoo-gul-culture) means “hill culture” or “hill mound” in German. This type of garden bed is raised from the bottom up with logs, branches, and sticks to create a knoll where you can grow your favorite fruits and vegetables.
With that being said, it’s time to talk about all things hugelkultur and how you can easily make one for yourself with simple materials like logs and other compost materials. So get out your gardening tools, dust off that German dictionary you randomly picked up at a garage sale ten years ago, and let’s do this thing.
What is a Hugelkultur Garden?
No-dig garden beds, like lasagna gardening, are on the rise. And for good reason, as they’re less labor-intensive and utilize organic materials. Hugelkultur garden beds are a unique spin on this method and have been practiced in Europe and Germany for hundreds of years.
The idea is that by burying logs in your garden and topping it off with compost materials, you will create a garden bed that better holds moisture, feeds the plants essential minerals, and maximizes the growing area for fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Hugelkultur garden beds don’t just have to be a free-standing mound, either. They can also be made enclosed and underground.
How Do Hugelkultur Gardens Work?
Hugelkultur garden beds can work on practically any terrain – be it a desert or your average backyard. This is because the decaying wood that rests under the mound retains moisture.
The nutrients that come from the dying wood helps plants thrive, too. Plus, hugel mounds — and yes, that’s what they’re called — make an excellent home for the earthworms and bugs that further help break down the wood and other organic materials.
The Benefits of a Hugelkultur Garden
By investing in this unique type of garden bed, you can:
Utilize fallen or dead trees.
Extend your growing season thanks to the heat from the composted wood.
Increase soil aeration from decaying materials
Avoid unnecessary hard labor like tilling and digging.
Provide your bed with essential nutrients for decades.
And best of all, you could potentially never have to water your garden again since the logs retain rainwater and release it when the soil is dry.
What Plants Grow Best in a Hugelkultur Garden?
It’s important to keep in mind that certain plants grow better than others in a hugelkultur garden.
The best plants for hugelkultur beds are:
Root vegetables such as potatoes, yams, beets, and celery.
Cucurbits such as cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, zucchini, and eggplant.
Perennial fruits such as tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
Lentils such as peas, soybeans, back beans, and cannellini beans.
Other plants such as onions, leeks, garlic, and peppers.
Most mushrooms and herbs
Of course, not all fruits and veggies work well in a hugelkultur garden. Some of the worst plants for these beds include asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, corn, brussel sprouts, wheat, and oats.
How to Make a Hugelkultur Garden
If you’re totally amped up about making your own hugelkultur garden, we don’t blame you. These things are awesome!
To get started on your own germanic gardening adventures, you’ll want to figure out which of the three types of hugelkultur garden beds you want to create: on top of the ground, in a ditch or trench, or in a container or box.
All of these techniques result in the same benefits. However, they do vary in the amount of work you’ll have to put in. Let’s start with the least labor-intensive and work our way down!
Hugelkultur on the Ground
The advantage of this method is that there is no digging required.
Layer cardboard or newspaper on a patch of land that is flat and exposed to the sun. By layering cardboard or paper, you will prevent weeds from sabotaging your mound in the future. Plus it will give your garden additional nutrients as it decays.
Set logs on top of the cardboard or newspaper. Continue to pile more wood on top such as branches or wood chips.
Add your organic hugelkultur layers using materials like leaves, straw, grass and garden clippings, kitchen scraps, and manure.
Top the mound with soil. At this point, you can plant immediately or let the materials set over the winter for a more nutrient-rich soil.
Hugelkultur in a Ditch
If you want a more traditional garden look, a hugelkultur swale may be right for you as the logs will sit underground rather than on top like a mound.
Find an existing ditch or dig one that is deep enough to hold your materials.
Layer cardboard or paper in the ditch.
Pile your logs, branches, and wood chips into the ditch.
Add a layer of sod upside down on top of the wood.
Add your organic hugelkultur layers, such as leaves, straw, grass and garden clippings, kitchen scraps, and manure.
Finish with a layer of soil. You can plant your seeds immediately or let the materials set over the winter for a more nutrient-rich soil.
Hugelkultur in a Container or Box
Are you into urban gardening? Maybe you live in an apartment or just don’t have the space required for a large garden. If that’s the case, starting a hugelkultur raised bed may be an ideal option.
Buy or build a container or box to hold your materials. We recommend using a raised wooden garden bed.
Pile in your log, branches, and woods chips. You may need to cut the wood down to fit the size of your box.
Add your organic hugelkultur layers, such as leaves, straw, grass and garden clippings, kitchen scraps, and manure.
Add your finishing layer of soil. Again, plant your seeds immediately or let the materials set over the cold months for a more nutrient-rich soil in the spring.
Essential Tips to Keep in Mind
When it comes to hugelkultur gardens, it’s all about the type of wood you choose and its ability to decompose. With the right type of wood, your bed could last up to twenty years!
Avoid using woods like black locust, black walnut, and redwood. Instead, stick to these types of hardwoods:
Alders
Apple
Aspen
Birch
Cottonwood
Dead Willow
Maple
Oak
Poplar
Be sure to avoid using woods that are already decaying or are invested with bugs to avoid hugelkultur termites. For more principles behind building a hugelkultur garden bed, check out this short-yet-excellent video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th0-nMd5kKE
Are you Ready to Set Up a Hugelkultur Garden?
As you can see, hugelkultur beds are incredibly simple to start and maintain. Plus, they are a great way to recycle logs and other organic materials that would have otherwise gone to waste.
Do you plan to start a hugelkultur garden in the near future? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below! To keep reading articles on homesteading and prepping, check out more of our blog posts or have them delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our email list at the bottom of our home page.