Hugelkultur Part 1: Site and site prep (including pruning of Oak and Beech)

Hugelkultur Part 1: Site and Site Prep

In this series of posts I'll show a transformation of a property.  I will use techniques based in the concept of  Hugelkultur.  I will use the debris that is available in a small suburban yard along with the material that is created by pruning two trees.  The amount of material that is generated by this pruning is generous.  I did have to acquire some of the material used in the creation of the gardens.  I bought wood chips and compost to provide a great start for the vegetables.  My client wanted the vegetables to go in year one, so we had to give the soil a big boost.

 Here are the photos from Part 1:

Buried beneath the snow and insulated with leaves and a plastic ice-cream bucket is anAmerican Chestnut (Castanea dentata).  It's been in for about nine months at the time of the photo.  The Greens Bed (the bed on which the greens will be planted) will be in the snowy open space in the foreground.

Here is a second American Chestnut.  It's under snow and leaves in the chicken-wire structure in the foreground.  To the left of it will go the Salsa Garden (the mound on which the tomatoes and peppers will be grown).

There is a little Yellowbud Hickory (Carya cordiformis) volunteering along this fence-line that will be transplanted in the main garden bed.

Future home of the Main Garden bed. 

Future home of the Salsa Garden.It's overgrown with weeds and volunteers that have taken hold.  They will be buried after being turned over with a shovel.

There is a lot of material to use in the Hugelkultur structures.

The future site of the Salsa Garden.

Material that was available in the yard after the winter.

Material that was just laying around the yard.  

Future home of the Main Garden Bed.

The next sequence is an illustration of the pruning of the two trees on the site.  There was a Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and an American Beech (Fagus grandifolia).  Both of these trees needed to be pruned for structure, deadwood, and clearance for other objects or trees.  First is the Oak.

This is the Bur Oak.  It is getting mature and has a diameter at breast height (dbh) of about 35".

We're going to get this little Red Oak (Quercus rubrum) some clearance.

The wires come into play with this tree.  We need to provide clearance as well as train the tree to grow away from the wires so that the power company doesn't come in and hack it up.  It's possible to make trees grow in their space without having to beat them up because they are too close to the wires.  It's about the future with Oaks!  They need someone with an eye for the future.

This is the Bur Oak after pruning.  Notice that the clearance for the wires is more than adequate.

Now the little Red Oak has some room to grow.

The following sequence is of the pruning of the Beech:

This beautiful American Beech has a lot of potential, but has overgrown its space. 

This tree needs to be pruned for structure, deadwood and clearance.

Will pruning the Beech.

The Beech after pruning.

The reductions that were done were for structure  and clearance.

Lots of material was produced.

Building the Hugelkultur Structure:

Top Soil is set aside for use after the main structure of the Hugelkultur is created.

Start out by laying out the wood to make the structure you are trying to create.

The more rotten the wood the better for Hugelkultur!

Nice to see tons of worms in this soil.  That will help in the months and years to come.  As the worms eat the material, they produce top quality soil.  It's chemical free.

Using small but coarse woody debris on top of the wood.

The structure of the Main Garden bed is starting to take shape.

END of Part I

The point of the Hugelkultur is to create a long-term no-water-garden.  It is great for perennials The layers break down and produce a fantastic soil.  Part II of Hugelkultur will show the rest of the layering along with the finishing of the structure.