A related but somewhat distinct idea is to make new growing areas for your homestead using the hugelkultur (mound culture) technique. Hugelkultur is a German term meaning “hill culture” or “hill mound.” This method originated in Europe. The Cedar will rot slowly and may prevent certain plants from thriving. The damaged ones continue to fall. Next thing that will happen is the dirt on the left will be dumped back on top and… HUGELKULTUR! better flavor, bigger berries, higher yield. Apr 21, 2017 - In the dozens of hugelkultur threads, crucial information about toxic woods that should not be used is often burried by the quantity of it all. This type of gardening is ideal for wooded areas where […] The wood is composted under the soil, retaining water and nitrogen. As much as I keep fiddling around with varying experiments, I haven’t created a full-on hugelkultur bed yet (though this one is close). Just curious if this is something that has been tried before? See more ideas about garden beds, growing vegetables, garden. I have thought of making a small pond and filling it with the wood and water before putting the wood into the bed. Here are some notes on hugelkultur that mention woods you may want to avoid: at richsoil.com; at appropedia; Woods to avoid or at least be aware of, see above for details: cedar; camphor wood; black locust; black cherry; black walnut; pine; fir; There is some question about whether the toxins in the wood will break down and if so how long it takes. Hugelkultur is a method of making a garden bed using waste wood and available nitrogen, that preserves those nutrients and gives them up to growing plants over several seasons. One more technique to try next year. The seeds are viable for around 20 to 25 years. Needs to be next to it, a foot away, 2 yards? Pine is okay for hugel beds, so is oak, maple, sweetgum, apple and most any other species of tree around. The list goes on, and I’ll try and answer some of the most common ones today. Hugelkultur is a method of making a garden bed using waste wood and available nitrogen, that preserves those nutrients and gives them up to growing plants over several seasons. Both options seem to have a place in. If your garden bed is not a hill or mound its not hugelkultur. As in lasagna gardening, the idea is to compost brown and green materials in place. Broadleaf maple is notorious for re-growing from stumps. As it decomposes it heats the surrounding soil (protecting surrounding plants from frost), it takes on a spongy texture (storing water for surrounding plants), and it adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. A hugelkultur bed is just a big pile of rotting wood and manure. But rather than making a flat raised bed, in hugelkultur you will make a mound shape. With a few exceptions of course. The word hügelkultur roughly means “hill culture”. Pine is okay for hugel beds, so is oak, maple, sweetgum, apple and most any other species of tree around. hubert cumberdale wrote: i use cedar, juniper and pine for my gooseberry hugel beds. This can be good or bad … ... Four years ago five were done hugelkultur-like with buried wood and branches. So, what is best material for a hugelkulture bed? Oak? I'm wary of anyone who blanketly says there's good and bad wood. For unlimited return on all your investments - Make your deposits at 'The Entangled Bank' ! Very effective for leveling a trench and it only took me about 10 minutes to build it. I’m curious to see how this gardening method works in Florida. Is this wood likely to have chemicals in it? The wood is composted under the soil, retaining water and nitrogen. Larger hugelkultur beds (4+ feet tall), made with more wood and consisting of a mix of rotten and fresh wood, will provide more benefits than a small (less than 4 feet tall) hugelkultur bed. The going rate for wood disposal in your area is $50 per ton. . 100% Upvoted. I like hardwood sawmill slabs because of the speed of rot and because slabs have a disproportionate quantity of nutrient rich bark. I wish I could tell you the specific details as to why certain wood is bad, and how to determine if one is better than the other. As a result, it’s good to avoid certain types of wood, leaves, or chips when you’re building your hugelkultur base, as it poses less risk to your plants. Wood from hardwood trees and conifers can work well for hugelkultur beds. I was just about to post this in another thread (How to kill Siberian Elm and Tree of Heaven), but this info will go better here. Areas that have 90 frost free days can now have 150 frost free days! Get the world domination gardening DVDs. Again, the best part of hugelkultur is how open-ended it is at every turn. The buried wood is a triple threat. You are doing your small part in saving the world from global warming by doing carbon sequestration in your own backyard. Whatever you have lying around–it will all rot–some just at a different pace than others. same with wet acacia branches will root, dry wont. The most famous of these is black walnut, which secretes juglone, a chemical only a select number of species can tolerate. This is just the first year and the wood has not yet rotted much. 2) Will the trees have any negative impact on my other trees and plants based on the “chemical warfare” (juglone) you mentioned? This was one of those rare days when we are both home and the weather is not too bad and we are able to work on the yard together. Notice how ALL of these feature polyculture. You may have to take it for. The microbes in the soil start to break the wood down and add nutrients to the soil. Someone pointed out that subsidence in a hugelkultur bed might be bad for trees, though many use hugelkultur just for vegetables. No, while pine needles are acidifying, the wood is not, and neither are the brown needles. Soil aeration increases as those branches and logs break down... meaning the bed will be no till, long term. Burning, however, is very quick and produces carbon dioxide. Wood chip of various varieties fits into the ‘brown’ category. Happy stuff! Making It Look Good ... Obviously such a timber would be a bad choice. A large bed might give out a constant supply of nutrients for 20 years (or even longer if you use only hardwoods). Regardless of almost everything, when something decays the process is catalyzed by microorganisms and the formula is: CxHy+(x+y/4)O2=xCO2+(y/2)H2O Of course the process of decay … Sure, a hugelkultur bed may be able to reduce watering somewhat. the devil is in the details, each wood needs to be used according to its properties. This super high tech and complicated piece of equipment is called an A Frame Level. Aunt Elba and I have a load of Black Walnut fruit (green with the seeds in side) that we picked up from the farmhouse we stayed at (with permission of course :) ). Any useful cedar , fir, or oak trees are bad wood for my Hugelkulturs and cedar is bad period since I'm not willing to risk problems when I have such an abundant supply of rotty stuff. Use Wood Chip in a Hugelkultur Mound. I would not use fresh cedar, but if it has been out in the elements for a year or two? I read in the other Hugelkulture thread someone saying "don't use conifers". I wish I could tell you the specific details as to why certain wood is bad, and how to determine if one is better than the other. These trees, like pine, will typically rot faster than hardwood trees in a hugelkulture mound. Try to use a mix of fresh and rotten wood, if possible. This can be good or bad depending on your garden design, and your wants and needs. Soil is added around and will start to break down the wood and add nutrients to the soil. Jan 19, 2017 - Explore Gina Welds-Hulse's board "Hugelkultur", followed by 1380 people on Pinterest. If they've been outside for two years do you think they'd be okay? The, the, the, . There is plenty of BlackWalnut here and I will say many things grow with it. The proper execution of a hugelkultur would be piling it up at or perhaps just slightly below grade, then covering it with soil. Location: New Mexico high desert Zone 7a, alkaline soils. A hugelkultur is basically a stack of wood–ideally six feet high–with sloping sides and upside-down turf laid on top of the displaced soil. Is pine okay? Used for centuries in Eastern Europe and Germany, hugelkultur (in German hugelkultur translates roughly as “mound culture”) is a gardening and farming technique whereby woody debris (fallen branches and/or logs) are used as a resource. Make sure you do a little research, because a lot of people who know more than I do about Hugelkultur will tell you that certain wood isn't good to use. Pine is fine, just don’t fill your bed with bales of green needles. That's great for my coppice production but I'll make sure that any big maple stumps are dead before they are burried. Next soil is piled on top to bury the wood. You are just burying organic matter. Hugelkultur is a growing style that utilises rotting wood in a raised growing bed. There are many different approaches as Paul … It can therefore be a good choice of material to begin filling your raised beds. Like compost, a hugelkultur bed or hugel bed makes use of carbon and nitrogen to decompose and create humus, while generating both heat and moisture. A hugelkultur is basically a stack of wood–ideally six feet high–with sloping sides and upside-down turf laid on top of the displaced soil. share. The buried wood is a triple threat. You can dig a trench and fill it with wood, or just pile the wood on the ground and cover it. That includes softwood species as well. Stomp on the pile to compact it a bit.Then toss compostable materials—grass clippings, sod, straw into the pile. Location: Central Texas USA Latitude 30 Zone 8, I've been putting aged juniper logs in the bottom of my buried. . Eradication is a long slow process, and costly as well. The smell is so strong that I got a head ache. This lasagna-style garden bed consists of layers of mulch material with one invisible secret: its important wood base. Willow bio-char is unlikely to sprout. Osage orange takes forever to rot. This was done for 2 reasons. Any thoughts on if this is likely or not? two species are commonly called California Pepper tree. But what about acidity? The quicker the better. How bad is paint for soil? The most important thing is to not over analyze it and start digging, because regardless of the wood chosen, it takes time to start to decompose and harvest nitrogen before you can see the effects of the wood core in your garden or permaculture system. This type of gardening is ideal for wooded areas where […] Over time, the wood breaks down, creating air space for microbes to colonize and nutrients to hide out in. That includes softwood species as well. Hugelkultur may afford those who have little water a viable option for growing much more than they could without the massive water storage capacity of the wood. Pine trees, especially in the Eastern United States, are often found in old fields and clearings as a pioneer species. Sepp Holzer, the father of Hugelkulture, uses primarily softwoods on Krameterhof in the Alps because those are the trees most readily available. I’m usually short on tree debris and time. Hugelkultur (pronounced HEW-gul-culture), is roughly translated from the German phrase “hill culture” and refers to a raised gardening style that takes place over mounds or—you guessed it—hills. I was considering making a hugelkutur bed with some mulberry limbs and branches I cut down when I pollarded the tree earlier this winter but had someone suggest that perhaps Mulberry like willow might sprout and then root. But needs replaced often as low in minerals. South Carolina Hemp | Seed Swap via Letter | Livingwind.tumblr.com | sustainable seed co. Mariah Wallener wrote: I would not use fresh cedar, but if it has been out in the elements for a year or two? One more technique to try next year. Location: Southern West Virginia, Zone 6a. It has a long fiber. I work at a mill and I can have as much as I can cut and load for free. Hugelkultur (pronounced HEW-gul-culture), is roughly translated from the German phrase “hill culture” and refers to a raised gardening style that takes place over mounds or—you guessed it—hills. Cedar Rotting --- I shingled a roof from a cedar that had been lying dead on the forest floor for more than a century. A hugelkultur is a raised bed garden with rotten wood and other decomposing materials under the soil that provides nutrients for the plants. Softwood vs. Hardwood, alleopathic woods, fresh or dead? You see these warnings in … acidic woods for acid-lovers (berry bushes) , hardwoods for all else... Has anyone used white pine or Virginia pine? Use Wood Chip in a Hugelkultur Mound. You can design a hugelkultur raised garden bed equally well into a small backyard space or something more expansive. save hide report. You can dig a trench and fill it with wood, or just pile the wood on the ground and cover it. THE GRINCH! 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