Hugel squares?

Hi everybody!

Well, so i sneak out of the rocket stove forum for once. Because i had a mad idea i have to share.

After the hugel teraces which i discovered are already existing.

The hugelkultur square.

THe idea is for places which are quite dry. or even hilly!

Make four hugel beds in a square, linked together, so the center forms a pond, may be fill the bottom with clay, may be even some of the sides, so you can keep water there, or it's directed into the beds when it rains. But the water doesn't run away.

How's that as far as mad goes?

Hth.

Max.

Interesting idea Satamax. Were you thinking of collecting the water from some sort of drainage and then regulating the depth of the pond at another point on the square?

Nope Amos, just having a kind of dip in the middle, in which the water would gather, keeping more moisture for the hugel bed. Just an idea floating in my head.

Hmmmmm...i'm thinking that the sides, or hugels, would collapse. Unless they are very large in size? But even then, if the bottom did not drain at all, all of that water is gonna find a place to go. Especially with all the air pockets inside of a hugel bed. Even when you are just building a berm on the side of any type of water retention area, it is recommended that you dig a trench directly underneath where the berm will lie. This kind of anchors that berm into the ground after it settles and is compacted.

Maybe, and I'm guessing only a slight chance, if the water depth could be kept below say 2' or so, there wouldn't be as much pressure on the mound. But then too you run into the issue of standing water like Dave mentioned in his thread "hugel location theory". Sorry to cut you down Satamax, but I dont think I would try this one.

This would be an easier hugel design to fence the deer out... I might try a few with a sunken hole in the middle - I have some small piles like this on the side of long ditches now.

I am not using the center as a pond but set up an 8' (each side) square hugeltur 2' high this spring. I put a pole in the center and ran string from the ground to the top of the pole. I planted bean and gourds. We'll see how well it works

Guys, i'm not talking about a huge thing, like Roy said about his, 8'x8', or 10'x10', with a sloped hole in the middle, starting at a square yard on top may be. (could also be round!) and ending up at 1'x1' on the bottom. Well, it might be of some use, or might not!

I think you should try it and post pictures.

It may have results that no one thought of.

Jeanine Gurley wrote:I think you should try it and post pictures.

It may have results that no one thought of.

Jeanine, i wish i could. I live in a ski resort, where land is extremely expensive.

sure land is expensive there -- it's all 60 degree slopes, so you get much more surface area per acre

Eric Thompson wrote:sure land is expensive there -- it's all 60 degree slopes, so you get much more surface area per acre

Yep, but that's tamed by the rocks, behind which the Dahu hides

Ooh! I had never seen the Dahu! That must be what those guys in squirrel suits are looking for as they fly down Mount Blanc..

So if you have a hilly area for a hugel square, do you really want it on the uphill side also? if it's a 3 sided catchment (or even a crescent catchment) it seems like you are getting good usage.

Eric, whenever i will be able to get some land. If flat'ish, i might try square, but, i don't realy need it. I bet i will go more for terraces. And as you said, may be crescent shaped, to gather a bit of water. It's dry here, but not everywhere and not always. The snow cover is thick in the winter, and melts slowly, so water seeps into the ground. Spring is usualy as wet as seatle (well, exagerating a bit) and then it turns dry mediteranean weather from may /june, till october.

Huh, by the way, if a guy with a wingsuit reaches here from the mont blanc, he'll be in the guiness book of records! As i am 125mi further south, and 155mi from Nice, nearly mid way.