PDC LESSON 2.58 DESIGN – HUGELKULTURE Part -4- HOW IT IS MADE

 

PERMACULTURE COURSE AGRO-ECONOMY

PDC LESSON 2.58 DESIGN – HUGELKULTURE Part -4- HOW IT IS MADE

How to make a Hugelkultur raised bed

The rising popularity of hill culture has to do with its association with permaculture. Permaculture is an increasingly popular gardening philosophy that aims to mimic and integrate natural relationships and systems into the garden.

If you want to incorporate a hill bed into your garden, you should think about the system as a whole. The beds you build are long term and will get better over the years.

Construction of your Hugelkultur raised bed

Below are the steps to building your Hugelkultur raised bed.

STEP 1.

Lay your scrap wood (freshly cut, well rotted, or anything in between) with larger logs and stumps on the base and smaller twigs and branches on top.

The bigger the better. The larger your mound, the more resilient it will be to watering and fertilizing. The recommended size is about two by one meter with a height of about two meters. While you don't need to make your hillock that big, it is recommended as it may shrink in the first month as it settles down.

STEP 2.

Fill in the gaps in the wood with compost, manure, leaves, kitchen scraps, etc. This nitrogen-rich layer helps balance high levels of carbon in the wood. It is also highly recommended to cover your mound face down with cut sod (always make sure the grass is face down as the grass can grow back through if it is face up).

STEP 3.

Finish with a layer of topsoil about 5 inches deep and then a layer of mulch (like straw).

STEP 4.

You can plant immediately in the Hugelkultur raised bed, but leaving it a bit (like over the winter) gives it time to settle and soak rainwater. However, if you do not want to wait and immediately plant in the mound, then do no harm.

Annotation:

You can start with smaller/lower beds and add them up over a few years to create a taller bed. However, the smaller beds aren't as resilient and will require some watering (though far less than a "regular" raised bed containing just soil and compost)