AMKuska's 2023 Garden

[ducks4you]

@AMKuska , re Hügelkultur, I think it was @Phaedra , who first brought it up here. I have read only ONE article where somebody hated it, and it was because it worked SO WELL that the perennials that were planted in one buried their roots too deep to get rid of them.
To ME, that's just a poor choice of gardening. Seems pretty safe and practical for annual vegetables.
I thought of Hügelkultur immediately bc using those little twigs and stems could make a miniature version of the mounds that people assemble.
Besides, what Else are you going to do with them?

How to Create the Perfect Hugelkultur Garden in Your Backyard

Hugelkultur is a marvelous way to use deadwood and create a rich garden bed that sustains your plants for years. Here's what to know.

morningchores.com

As I understand it when the pieces of buried wood start breaking down they maintain moisture which becomes available for your crops.
I guess the only downside is that you need to keep weed trees from sprouting in one. Still, it isn't impossible to weed those out if you keep on top of it.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

@AMKuska , re Hügelkultur, I think it was @Phaedra , who first brought it up here. I have read only ONE article where somebody hated it, and it was because it worked SO WELL that the perennials that were planted in one buried their roots too deep to get rid of them.
To ME, that's just a poor choice of gardening. Seems pretty safe and practical for annual vegetables.
I thought of Hügelkultur immediately bc using those little twigs and stems could make a miniature version of the mounds that people assemble.
Besides, what Else are you going to do with them?

How to Create the Perfect Hugelkultur Garden in Your Backyard

Hugelkultur is a marvelous way to use deadwood and create a rich garden bed that sustains your plants for years. Here's what to know.

morningchores.com

As I understand it when the pieces of buried wood start breaking down that maintain moisture which becomes available for your crops.
I guess the only downside is that you need to keep weed trees from sprouting in one. Still, it isn't impossible to weed those out if you keep on top of it.

Hugelkulture beds are great for areas that have frequent droughts.
My experience is limited but I'll post here anyway.
In 2016 we made a Hugelkulture bed by piling up dead limbs we found in the woods, even some fresh cut ones, dry leaves, grass clippings and than threw some dirt over the top from the paths. Of course the weeds and grass took over and we never harvested what was planted on top,which I think were potatoes and maybe corn? So the next year we took it apart and the soil under it was amazing. The logs didn't break down at all since it was only a year old but the whole thing really settled down. If I remember correctly,the logs were exposed by this time.
BUT what we did notice was that the two blueberry plants that were near the Hugelkulture beds grew beautifully! Our three year old bushes are practically still sticks.
While back I was talking to a friend that gardens in Tennessee and she grows her blueberries on a hugel berms and those bushes are healthy and productive.
I want to try hugel bed again,especially for blueberry bushes.

 

[Branching Out]

I am a little leery of Hugelkultur beds because we have ground termites that nest in old underground stumps in our yard, and I don't want to provide them with a new food source But I need to move my blueberry bushes and from what you described Cosmo I might just have to give it a try. I find it is so hard to keep the blueberries hydrated through the summer when rain is infrequent. Hugelkultur may be the answer.

 

[AMKuska]

Hugelkulture beds are great for areas that have frequent droughts.
My experience is limited but I'll post here anyway.
In 2016 we made a Hugelkulture bed by piling up dead limbs we found in the woods, even some fresh cut ones, dry leaves, grass clippings and than threw some dirt over the top from the paths. Of course the weeds and grass took over and we never harvested what was planted on top,which I think were potatoes and maybe corn? So the next year we took it apart and the soil under it was amazing. The logs didn't break down at all since it was only a year old but the whole thing really settled down. If I remember correctly,the logs were exposed by this time.
BUT what we did notice was that the two blueberry plants that were near the Hugelkulture beds grew beautifully! Our three year old bushes are practically still sticks.
While back I was talking to a friend that gardens in Tennessee and she grows her blueberries on a hugel berms and those bushes are healthy and productive.
I want to try hugel bed again,especially for blueberry bushes.

Thank you for sharing this! I actually plan to plant a strip of blueberry and raspberry bushes along the back. I have tons and TONS of sticks from our trees. I'll save them and start piling them along the back so when I have them ready they can go on one. This is very exciting!

 

[AMKuska]

I am a little leery of Hugelkultur beds because we have ground termites that nest in old underground stumps in our yard, and I don't want to provide them with a new food source But I need to move my blueberry bushes and from what you described Cosmo I might just have to give it a try. I find it is so hard to keep the blueberries hydrated through the summer when rain is infrequent. Hugelkultur may be the answer.

If you decide to do that, could you keep me informed as to whether the termites go for it? I imagine it wouldn't be a great option for them if its buried, but still--it'd be good to know about.

 

[flowerbug]

I am a little leery of Hugelkultur beds because we have ground termites that nest in old underground stumps in our yard, and I don't want to provide them with a new food source But I need to move my blueberry bushes and from what you described Cosmo I might just have to give it a try. I find it is so hard to keep the blueberries hydrated through the summer when rain is infrequent. Hugelkultur may be the answer.

often people do not adjust their Hugels for their climate and rains. if you are in an arid climate and want to keep things more moist the H's can go down deeper, for more temperate climates at grade level and a bit below for most of the organic material, for wet areas where you can afford to get more air and drainage up top then lift it up a bit more.

other common failings are making them too small. they don't work as well and the smaller they get the worse off.

for blueberries, i'd pile your organic materials and mix in some other good topsoil to help hold both moisture and nutrients and then top that off each season as you trim or mow or whatever. i think the blueberries will be fine. depending upon the expected size of the plants would determine how big a pile i would be making.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

I am a little leery of Hugelkultur beds because we have ground termites that nest in old underground stumps in our yard, and I don't want to provide them with a new food source But I need to move my blueberry bushes and from what you described Cosmo I might just have to give it a try. I find it is so hard to keep the blueberries hydrated through the summer when rain is infrequent. Hugelkultur may be the answer.

I think they are great but make sure you build them where they won't be in the way. If you want more info, permies.com has a whole forum on it.

 

[Branching Out]

I think they are great but make sure you build them where they won't be in the way. If you want more info, permies.com has a whole forum on it.

Thanks for suggestion the permies forum. I checked it out, and am chuckling to myself because one of the first posts that I read was titled 'I hate that I feel this way, but I’m starting to wonder if I would have been better off with a different style of garden.' The person goes on to describe devastating issues with yellow jackets, rodents, black ants, and copious quantities of slugs. Lots of food for thought.

 

[AMKuska]

That's as far as I got today.

 

[AMKuska]

My MIL gave me a handsome gift today!! She gave me a pair of gardening tongs, for getting seedlings out of pots. I'm so grateful!!

I'll have to think of something nice for her as a return gift. I didn't know such things existed but I really like it!