After a number of years of having two large Hugelkulture berms in the back yard I am convinced that they have many positive attributes to support plant growth.
It would seem that the buried rotting wood should be a great environment for getting trees established.
We have a Cherry tree growing at the lowest end of one of the hugels and it is doing exceptionally well.
Thinking about various approaches to fruit tree planting, for 2021. I would like to try an approach of a drill hole 14" in diameter. Luckily I recently discovered that i can access a 3 point hitch post hole auger.
The current thoughts are:
Drill a hole 4 feet deep
place split wood in the bottom of the hole, for 2 to 2.5 feet and place sand around the wood for root pathways.
for the top 1.5 feet would place amended top soil, (sandy loam, with well aged manure) ...What other amendments should I consider?
Place bare rooted fruit trees in the amended soil zone.
stake and water (while having lots of patience to see them grow)
Is there any critical flaws to this approach? what could be done to value add this process, to increase the establishment period or increase the probability of success.
I have friends who are in the Cape Breton Fire Clay Zone who should benefit greatly with and approach like this.
Any comments for season tree growers or permaculture practitioners.
Is the wood too deep?
Will the wood be in an anerobic zone and therefore not work like a hugelkulture berm above ground?
