Welcome to my blog, where I document my experiments and successes with Hugelkultur:
- practical advice and examples,
- gardening tips and tricks for cool climates,
- and the life-cycle of a successful working garden from one year to the next
Rotation Planting Plan (with updated Plant Guilds)
Planting plans are a great idea, but in reality much harder to implement for a small garden or intensive planting than they might initially seem. I love the idea of a no rules garden, and adopted that philosophy when I first started my garden, relying on common sense and permaculture …
FAQ: How often should I water?
A hugel is water efficient, so how much or how little should I water? ANSWER: If you’ve built robust hugel, and you’re growing typical vegetables with a view to regular harvesting, then you would typically water: seed beds – 5 mins, twice per day, the same as a conventional bed. …
FAQ: Can I plant potatoes in my hugel?
For ANSWER: Yes… and no. Technically you can plant anything in a hugel. For pragmatic reasons, that’s not the case: Potatoes have invasive root systems. Baby tubers will penetrate the woody material of your hugel, and will be impossible to harvest or remove without destroying your hugel. Because potatoes have …
FAQ: Does a hugel have to be a mound?
You have a place in your garden where you’d like to build a hugel, but a mound is not practical, or would look out of place. Can you build a hugel that’s level with the ground? ANSWER: Absolutely. Contrary to the name, hugels don’t need to be constructed in the …
FAQ: How do I stabilise the steep sides?
The taller the hugel, the more efficient it will be, but those steep sides are hard to stabilise. What’s the best way of working with them? ANSWER: Before adding the final compost layer, spread a thin layer of straw just below the crown of the hugel and all up the …
FAQ: Why is my hugel sinking?
You’ve built a fantastic hugel, exactly three feet tall, and now it’s only two feet tall. Is something wrong? ANSWER: That’s perfectly normal. After building, your hugels will settle and sink a little. The weight of the material will compact the mound, and as water permeates the soil air pockets …
FAQ: Can I use garden waste to build hugels?
You have a heap of prunings, and you’ve just mowed your lawn. Can you use these materials to build a hugel? ANSWER: Absolutely. Unless they’re poisonous! This might seem obvious, but it’s a very important point. With all that wood breaking down into your hugel and feeding your veggies, it’s …
FAQ: What about termites?
So you want to build a hugel, but you’re worried about termites near your house. Are termites attracted to hugels or not? ANSWER: There’s no simple answer to this question. I have 85m2 of hugels in my yard, and termites are present in the areas of native vegetation in the …
FAQ: How soon can I plant?
You’ve built your hugel bed. How long do you have to wait before you can plant? ANSWER: That depends on what you used to build your hugel with. If you use: dead and composted material, then go ahead and plant the next day. mostly dead material, and some green waste …
5 Reasons to love hugelkultur
What are the advantages of using hugelkultur over other gardening or permaculture techniques? 1. Cheap and easy If you have access to the raw materials, hugelkultur is cheap. It can be a lot of initial work to build a hugel, but it’s not technically difficult and requires very little skill …