Filling raised beds with logs sounds like a smart way to save money, hold moisture, and build better soil over time.
But does it actually work?
In this video, I break down what really happens when you bury logs in a raised bed—based on my own experience and what I’ve seen from thousands of gardeners. We’ll look at how this method affects soil depth, root growth, water retention, and what you can expect long-term.
Because while this idea can work in certain situations… it can also create problems that most people don’t realize until it’s too late.
If you’re building raised beds or thinking about using logs, this is what you need to know before you do it.
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Fill Your Raised Beds Right: https://youtu.be/acJowCH9iEk
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CHAPTERS
0:00 I Tried This
0:29 What Everyone Says About Logs
1:00 What Hugelkultur Really Is
1:54 Why Results Are So Mixed
2:30 The Biggest Mistake
3:08 What Roots Actually Do
3:40 Where the Water Really Is
4:21 The Settling Problem
5:52 Uneven Breakdown Over Time
6:21 The Nitrogen Problem
7:10 The Cost Myth
7:48 The Real Cost (Time & Work)
8:03 When This Actually Works
8:50 Logs vs Wood Chips
9:38 Real-World Scenarios
10:15 What You Should Do Instead
10:50 Watch This Next
35 Comments
I dont mind it sinking and yes mine sank. I like to amend with fresh soil and compost anyway. So I put 3"+ every year. Currently my metal 6x3x2 troughs are about 6" low. Im fine with it.
Well, this opened my eyes to some things I was gonna do this to a couple of new raised beds that I’m going to start but instead of using logs and large sticks I was gonna use garden trimmings you know off of my vines and hedges and stuff and try to fill as much into the container as possible before putting the soil in. Can anybody touch on this or you know? is this a good idea without using the large logs? Will it decompose faster? Any comments would be greatly appreciated thank you.
Thanks for the sensible long term results regarding soil settling. I wasn’t anticipating microbe and nitrogen loss to the soil. Each year I remove and mix equal portion of a rich amendments containing worm casting, bat guano, chicken manure, and compost. This process refills my containers and my garden grows strong, and the plants healthy.
Of course you have to add soil every year. That is a good thing.
I have a single raised bed I put logs I’m the base layer and yes it decomposed over 3 years however even mulch decomposes to almost nothing. Overtime everything breaks down, topping off planter beds is annual and with wood you can get sinks don’t fight work the issue and keep building have a couple of extra bags of mulch to top out bed mid seasoning throw in charcoal from my fire pit and dead fish from the river no road kill.
Great information Brian. Because we are in such a bad drought here in Florida, I haven't even started my garden yet. I grow in containers yet have one above ground bed. We shall see.
I am new to gardening and using raised beds. I saw so many videos doing this but I was very skeptical. I just decided to save up and get it delivered. I live in the deep South with clay soil high heat, humidity and water table. Thank you fir this.
Great information Brian 😊❤ We will never have those raised beds.😊❤
You need to start and continuously add to hugelkultur. Potting soil, top soil, compost, leaf mold and fertilizer (home-made) the year before you even start Hugelkultur style growing – you must remember that hugelkultur relies on the tendancy to break down well before plants are grown in it! It is based on a forest type growing European style! (German style)
You’re right it all depends on multiple factors. My son built me a wood C shaped bed three feet high two and a half wide. He filled it with soil and compost, vermiculite, perlite mix he bought in bulk. No branches or logs in bottom. It sink’s at least four inches every year. My galvanized beds 18nch deep I put a few old small logs and small branches. Topped with bags of soil. They have sunk a little but they always top up at least once a year. Next year I’ll be adding several more galvanized beds, but probably won’t add anything to bottom. I’ll buy a bulk mix to fill them which is cheaper to do. So far I’m really not unhappy with any of the beds. You have to know what to expect. Gardening how ever you choose to do it isn’t easy or perfect. That’s what keeps it fun.
I used this method for an economical long game. Sure, I had to fill the settled bed the next year, but I didn’t have to fork out the total expense all at once. I could choose beds(for tomatoes) to fill fully with good soil and use the beds with logs for shallower roots. I am a 3rd year gardener so I didn’t feel like it impacted me poorly because I knew the challenges going in and used it all for learning. Any choice you make is a balance of all the things you need and having the full knowledge of benefits and challenges to make that choice.
I have 30" raised beds. I filled the bottom half with rotten, mushy logs. I do have to top dress with about 3"-6" of compost and bulk 'raised bed mix' from my local soil company each year. It works great for me here on the SE coast of NC. My plants push right through the brutally hot summer days..(I also use 40-50% shade cloth). I crashed out last season and didn't even go in my backyard for about a month from mid July into mid August….and all my plants were fine (and non-irrigated).😂😂 And I know I'm getting a good nutrient refresh every year from adding so much compost every season. Also, gardening supplies can be so expensive, postponing some of the costs when you are first starting out and setting up gardens can be a plus. But I agree, 'hügelkultur' beds are not the answer for every situation and there are many factors to consider for each scenario. Great video, thanks!
Peppers roots branch out sideways they arent that deep. Its cheaper and less annoying to just get a load of dirt delivered. I won't use raised beds. I'll stick with my grow bags.
When I was a child dad used saw dust in the garden We would shovel a truck bed full of the stuff. Not many small saw mills around anymore or I would go get some myself. I was taught to use organic and synthetic garden methods. It works great. Now I now the how and why it works and improved on it.
I totally agree that if your bed is on the shorter side, logs in the bottom is really not an option. With my 32" tall beds it afforded me a buffer. I have no shortage of logs on my property, so from a labor and up front cost perspective it was a no brainer to put a layer of logs in the bottom. I was careful to use soil from the old bed to fill in the gaps as I created that layer. I suggest using a sledge or tamper to bang on the logs to get the soil to settle in the gaps, and add more as necessary before moving on to the next layer. I have at least 17" of log free soil from a bulk delivery on top. The only maintenance this year for the two 8' x 2' beds was a very thin layer of chicken coop clean out material, one bag of raised bed soil for each bed and a thin layer of mulch, about 1.25 bags between the 2 beds. There was really minimal settling for year one. I do expect that in future years as the logs break down there will be more settling, but proportionately to the depth of my beds it will be ok. I also highly suggest an automatic drip irrigation system for steady watering. Now I just have to wait until mother's day to plant to avoid a late frost.
I made two tall raised beds for strawberries. They are sinking dramatically and now how do I replace soil without covering the strawberries? This is a big problem now.
My beds sank, but I'm on the 3rd season & I'll be stirring it all up, then adding topsoil..
I just put compost on top every year, 1" or 2" every year. I was able to get the wood out of the yard. First year on a bed is shallow crops, plan ahead.
I do this every time I get a new raised bed. I went to move a raised bed I did this to 4 years ago. There was really nothing left at the bottom except some good organic matter and worms.. Plus, I add soil and amendments each year (early fall/late winter/very early spring) where I grow, soil, compost. organic fertilizers. Plants grow fine, no issues so far. Planted peppers 2 seasons ago, grew pretty well in the raised bed that had been used 3 seasons before that. Personally, I think Youtube has over complicated gardening, from the new theories by a person's favorite influencer gardener, to trying to keep up with what this person does or what that other person does. Just add fertilizer (I use Espoma), know what plants can perform well in your USDA zone, use organic matter as amendments, know what type of nutrients your plants will benefit from, and just enjoy it. You make a mistake, oh well, just try and fix it for next season. For example, the "no till" concept. I tried it one year, plants didn't do to well. Next season I tilled, and guess what the plants grew much better than the season before. So, the tilling will continue in early spring to mix all the organic matter I added in the fall and other soil amendments I lay down before I cover it with leaves and anything I pick up with the bagger on the mower. Just no material that has been treated in the front lawn. My raised beds are 17 inches, I do logs (not large ones), a layer of twigs, leaves, compost, then soil. Again, things grow fine.
I’m on my second year of my 24 inch raised beds. It’s over a gravel base so I put cardboard down and then I used 3 inch to 1 inch branches, but only about three or 4 inches.. then I bought a grow mix at a yard that sells mushroom compost grow mix and whatever you need and filled them up.. my mistake was I didn’t pack it down that much. I ended up with I think too much air in the soil in the Sacramento area where it gets 100° and my plants suffered they turned yellow and didn’t seem to absorb my organic additives or fertilizers as well as they should and I think it drained too fast. This year I topped off each one with a couple of the large Costco bags and I made honey holes for every plant and spread the new stuff over the top. so I wasn’t really thinking too well on my first year I should’ve packed it more. I hope people take note. My plants are doing wonderfully now the growing fast and their dark green. I’m glad I didn’t put too many logs in because I know every year for probably four years, I would be adding soil to it, also on the side of the walls was very loose and airy so I had to take my hand and pushed down and compact the sides . I’m also using a drip system that I’m setting up and I think that’ll be a consistent watering for everything. Like I said, I think my biggest mistake was not compacting the soil enough at first. This was my first experience with raised beds and I’m learning a lot. Thanks for your information. This is how we learn by doing thanks for your informative video.
Shouldn't you be adding soil to your garden yearly to enrich the soil and keep it viable for micro organism to stay and boost your soil??
It works great for low rooted veg like lettuce, Kale and beans.
I wouldnt plant root vegetables there or tomatoes and peppers.
I used this method and everything you said is true, however a few things. I built 36" tall beds. I live on a ranch up at the Grand Canyon. Our UV rays are very high at times, which depletes the nutrients in the soil, so adding more soil, nutrients every year is a good thing for me. There are a few plants I would NOT put in these kinds of beds again which are strawberries, mints, or anything that fills out the beds because it is very hard to add soil to the beds without burying the plants!
I did both as a test. No growth difference. I got sinking but that was not a problem. I got lots of mushrooms in the log/wood beds and they pushed my plants out and took over the bed.
I've done it both ways. In both cases, I had to add soil yearly due to settling and shrinking soil level. In the 24" bed where i put logs, a surface fungus developed, though. A strange, flat growth that poofed out black spore dust when hit by water. My plants didn't do well with that, unfortunately.
I dug down 18 inches and then use a 12 inch raised bed.
I have 12" beds open to the soil that I laid about 4" of tree limbs to the bottom before filling with garden soil from a nursery. I've only added homemade compost since each year.
I used wood chips from a local tree cutter to fill my raised beds then added a good foot of a mix of dirt sand a manure to my beds. I hand hoe and add compost to my beds every couple of years. I fertilizer every couple years and add pellitized lime. Throughout the seasonI I add a liquid fish emulation, seems to work out good. My beds are around 20 inches tall.
Brian your raised beds will always shrink or drop over time, even if you fill them with premium soil, as the plants you grow consumes the converted organic matter. As far as I have experienced you always have to amend and replace some soil in your raised bed, no matter what. Maybe a bit less dropping of soil level, but there is no such thing as a no-maintenance raised bed, pot or in-ground garden bed, if you want to keep them productive and healthy. 😘
Thank you! You are an excellent communicator and teacher!!
Every year you add compost to your bed which is a good thing. It’s the shorter beds that have the biggest problems putting logs in. People just need to do the research what best for the type and size bed you have. Let’s be truthful here. As a gardener you will always have maintenance on your raised beds.
My beds are 24" tall and I put logs and limbs in the bottom of them at the beginning. And I also knew that the wood was going to break down over time and that I was going to have to add more soil/compost yearly until they were completely broken down. I personally think that is a good thing. Adding fresh fertility to your garden on a regular basis – Yep.
Having it sink and add more soil each year is a feature not a flaw. More good soil building every year
This is very accurate. Adding new compose every year is good maintenance. The part with the microbes using Nitrogen, the secret is to create the Hugelkulture in the early fall, then most of the nitrogen usage will happen over winter and it will have stabilized by spring planting. I agree that you need to have deep beds in order to use this method effectively.
The idea behind Hügelkultur is that its designed to be generational. The logs take 20 years or more to break down. Its not supposed to be used for raised beds that you might have to rebuild before then. If you use wood for the exterior of the raised bed its breaking down at the same speed as the logs underneath. That's why so many people were suggesting that you use wood chips or wood shreds instead of the logs.