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34 Comments
Hiii…. brother….
Isnt the fungal dominated soil better in the long term for more perennials while bacteria dominated soil is better for your annuals?
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I don't mind the slow sinking of the soil and needing a top up. It makes it easier to fill the raised bed becuase soil is expensive.
It will take about 10 years to break down. Settling is not an issue as a result of the wood
Hugelkultur seems good, but imo not worth it to me unless I’m intentionally inoculating the logs with mushroom spores. I want the mycelial networks more than just the water retention.
I don't mind the settling. I'm adding compost to top it off annually anyways.
Obviously time will tell. Pay now or pay later. I did the same thing with my newest bed. I filled the bottom third with wood chips, then native soil to the 8" line and topped off with worm dirt (from a local worm farm). I'm very fortunate that I get between 20-50 yds of free wood chips every year and I can get the "worm dirt" (worm castings) for $100/cu/yd.
Building a blue mushroom biome underground smart
I use this method but not with so much wood. I add homemade sifted compost after every planting season. That's twice a year in Central Texas.
If it settles and you need to add more soil, isn't it just to same amount of soil, in the aggregate, as the other bed? So if there is an initial benefit, then why not? (If you already have the logs/wood).
If you have all the soil you need and money isn't tight, then just fill with soil. But if you want to save money, your soil is limited and still want multiple beds, then Hügelkultur is the best way to go.
Nonsense. What about Nitrogen?
That wood would take forever to breakdown. So it’s pretty pointless 😂😂
I did this with a new bed last fall. I planted garlic in this bed in October. Now, in April, the soil has settled with my garlic still growing in it.
I’m topping my beds off with my own compost every year. Settling isn’t an issue for me at all. My own yard generates all of the logs and sticks so paying less up front for the soil works for me.
I think the long-term payoff is worth the trouble of adding more soil. You could add some charged biochar to your soil before adding it to the bed to offset the waiting time of the long-term decay of the logs, though. Doing so will create a bed that is fertile for over a century… especially if it stays covered and you cut your plants off at the base instead of ripping the whole thing out. Chop and drop, Jacque; add those spent nutrient back to your soil by letting it leech out of your garden refuse and pound it from time to time to build as much of your own soil, right in the bed, as you can, then add the rest.😊😁 You can also use a groundcover crop for off-season and plant your transplants right through it. 😉
I have multiple hugelkultur mounds in my garden, and I love it. The soil settling is actually a great bonus in my opinion because it makes it so there's always room to add more organic material as a top dressing every spring, and then in the fall I add all my leaves on top and cover it with wood mulch. Repeat every year for 4 years now and my soil has never been healthier! Full of life, well draining, and mycelium networks anywhere you dig!
That's clearly not soil
Hey can you teach us how to create great soil from nature without buying stuff from the garden store. Specifically how to create great soil for fruits that like acidic soil. We are in a recession and people don't got the money to be buying those expensive soil mixes.
For example I live in south coast Oregon, it is a berry jungle here. The garden blogs are telling me to spend like $100 on soil for my blueberry trees but we have wild berries that grow great without anything store bought. So I know I can create my own soil from things that grow in nature around here, I just don't know what. Can you guys do a challenge on who can create the best garden with $0 (and also zero products you are given by companies for promo)? I know it won't be epic, but it would be epically helpful for poor people.
I'm not comfortable with my roots in rotting wood and mites
I don’t even care about the fungal benefits with a 3.5 foot tall raised bed. good dirt is expensive..
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I think the two things I like about Hugelkulture is one, the Built in "water reservoir" and the ability to fill beds faster, without breaking the bank.
The settling isn’t a big enough issue for my gardening. It would be nice to do pure soil but it’s so pricey
Settling is not an issue you’re gonna have richer more bioactive soil at the end then just having a bunch of garden soil to begin with I prefer to mix in charcoal bonemeal , pumice
Settling is not an issue for me. I make my own compost and use that to top dress as part of winter prep. I'm no-dig and simy layer my conpost/mulch on top once at the end of season and once in early spring as needed. Initial nitrogen loss from fresh wood is offset by rich compost/organic fertilizer at the start. I'll take free materials over store-bought any day.
I have used peat with great success also. It doesn’t last as long but it is helpful. I added leaves as well.
Mushroom soil maybe better and you have to get the soil into the air pockets. So, work on layers more than just filling it up with sticks. Different layers maybe the key and timing of it all.
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Adding soil can be a good thing if you are replanting each season, but not if it's a permanent bed, like for asparagus.
I 'wood' love to see a follow up of this!
I have used logs to fill the bottom of my deep raised beds. I did not like it. As it would settle it literally would create mini sink holes drying out my plants. It also was a haven for mice and snakes, trust me they highly recommend u do it! I for one would not do that again.