Session 4: Implementing Hugelkultur
COVID-19 Community Resilience & Permaculture Course
Session 4: Implementing a Hugelkultur garden bed
Watch the video, read the text, link the Hugelkultur session to the previous session about placement and finish the learning exercise to complete this session.
One element many functions
How to implement a Hugelkultur garden bed
This session of our COVID-19 resilience and permaculture course is dedicated to implementing Sepp Holzer’s famous Hugelkultur to create a new garden bed (horticulture). We wanted to start with a garden technique to increase our ability to grow food to become more resilient as a community. After defining the structure, placement, and shape by following the first permaculture principle - observe and interact, we dove dived deeper into Sepp Holzer’s Hugelkultur. After this session, you will be
Introduce the concept of a Hugelkultur garden bed
Know the 5 steps to implement a Hugelkultur garden bed
Understand what one Element many functions is about
Introduced into the benefits of Hugelkultur
What is a hugelkultur by Sepp Holzer?
Hugelkultur is a gardening technique invented by Sepp Holzer in Austria. It has many benefits, is easy to create, and can help you enrich your soil and grow beautiful plants, fruits and vegetables. At the same time, you are increasing fertility over a long period of time. It is mainly used if you want to create a garden bed that is releasing fertility back into the soil for a long time. You are regenerating soil and ecosystem while satisfying your personal needs in one spot. By creating a typical hugel-structure you are adding additional surface area and you are able to create different microclimates, due to shading, sun, water storage, etc. In temperate climates, you can prolong the growing season as you have an additional heat source (decomposition) designed into your garden-bed. This technique is also great for water management as it stores rainwater and retains moisture on-site and at the same time increases drainage. This would be important especially in the tropics.
Hugelkultur is one form of a raised garden bed
Hugelkultur is a horticulture technique
Hugelkultur is transforming excess wood into areas of high and long-term fertility
5 Steps to create a Hugelkultur bed
Hugelkultur beds are large, layered compost piles covered with compost or topsoil, just like raised beds. However, the big difference is the amount of wood that is put into this specific garden bed. The first layer, sometimes even partly buried, is made up of big logs and wooden material. They will act as fertile storage and will increase soil fertility over the years. The second layer contains smaller branches, followed by small sticks and twigs. Before adding the final layer you can add some brown and green layers on top. Everything will be covered with topsoil and mulch.
(Optional) Dig a hole and put top-soil aside.
Pile excess wood starting with big logs followed by branches and twigs.
Add layers of brown (high in carbon like dry leaves, cartons, etc) and green (high in nitrogen like grass clippings, fresh leaves, manure, urine) material to your woodpile.
Cover with top-soil and/or compost and end with a layer of mulch to protect the soil.
Plant right into the new set up structure.
One Element: many functions.
Let’s have a look at the benefits of a Hugelkultur:
Improving soil conditions:
The gradual decay of wood is a consistent source of long-term nutrients for the plants. A large bed might give out a constant supply of nutrients for 20 years (or even longer if you use only hardwoods). Soil aeration increases as those branches and logs break down... meaning the bed will be no-till, long term.
Habitat/heat:
Hugelkultur is using the benefits of a slowly decomposing process to create habitats for billions of bacteria, mycelium, and other organisms. The composting wood also generates heat which should extend the growing season.
Turn waste into resources and close natural loop-systems:
In many smaller gardens, people do not know what to do with woody material as they feel it takes too much effort to process it and create something beneficial with it. Hugelkultur is following the permaculture principle there is no such thing as waste. In a very easy way, it is transforming excess wood into a fertile area.
Sequester carbon into the soil:
It is a natural way to sequester carbon into the soil and at the same time increase fertility.
Water Management:
The logs and branches act like a sponge. Rainwater is stored and then released during drier times. Actually you may never need to water your Hugel-bed again after the first year (except during long term droughts).
Obtain a yield:
If you start your project and you need to regenerate soil, Hugelkultur is a beautiful way to grow food and at the same time support nature to strengthen the soil-food-web. It is a bigger intervention in the first place but you do not need to intervene with nature afterward for a long time.
Summary Hugelkultur:
The Hugelkultur technique by Sepp Holzer is an agriculturally productive ecosystem that is consciously designed to have the diversity, stability, and resilience of a natural ecosystem in the long run. By mimicking forest systems we are creating long-lasting high productive fertile areas that are still able to regenerate the soil and not degrade it further.
Learning exercise:
Do it! Make a hugelkultur bed! If you don’t have space just make a list where in your neighborhood you could source your materials for a hugelkultur bed from. In best case you turn waste into a resource.
Experiential learning
At our session at Gaia Ashram, we took the participants out on the land to place an element first and afterward we implemented right away. We followed the 5 step approach and had also the first possibility to get to know each other better and see what kind of practical experience we have within our group. The main task has been:
digging the soil
bringing in different kinds of material
placing the material
spreading seeds
It was a good first practice session to get to know each other better and to have a first practical success. Within an hour we implemented the hugelkultur. Two days later, we installed the trellis (using waste material) to give structure and support to the climbing beans we planted.
