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Creating a wildlife friendly hugelkultur bed.

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posted 5 years ago

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Greetings all. I wanna find out what it takes to create a hugelkultur bed for wild creatures such as butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, songbirds and other earth dwelling insects such as worms, pillbugs and others. I've created one in my backyard a few years ago planted elderberry, milkweed, sunflowers, wild mint, dropseed and others. Could you share me more and ideas to help my hugelkultur garden more suitable to native creatures and native flora for generations to come? Thanks!

Anne Miller

master steward

Posts: 19751

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4956

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posted 5 years ago

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Blake said, "Could you share me more and ideas to help my hugelkultur garden more suitable to native creatures and native flora for generations to come?

If I were creating a hugelkultur garden especially for butterflies and other pollinators I would try to start with perennial native flowers and herbs.

How large are you planning for this garden?

I would like to suggest starting with Creeping Thyme, Thymus praecox which is a perennial that is usually recommended as a ground cover. I feel this will help hold the soil on the sides of the hugel. Creeping time comes in a variety of colors.

source

Joe Pye Weed is a taller growing perennial that would be good for the top of the garden bed.

source

Another good perennial would be Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea):

source

Some hostas and native annuals would be good to fill in and add more cover. My favorite is Firewheel or Blanket Flower:

source

This thread might give you more suggestions:

https://permies.com/t/61605/Creating-Edible-Medicinal-Garden-Butterflies

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Blake Lenoir

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posted 5 years ago

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What about shrubs and trees? And could we add little ponds or small pools for birds to bathe and stuff?

Anne Miller

master steward

Posts: 19751

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4956

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posted 5 years ago

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Turk's Cap cap is a shrub that might work for you it is a late bloomer as it does not bloom until August.

I believe a lot of your threads have "Midwest" in the title and I am not real familiar with plants for that area. I lived in Indiana for a short time, though I didn't pay a lot of attention to trees and shrubs.

Rosemary is a nice smelling shrub though it likes to spread its wings (limbs) so it would need about 4 or 5 ft.

As for a pond or pool for birds that would be great as all wildlife need water. Depending on the amount of space you have a bowl or pan might work for that.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Mk Neal

pollinator

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Location: Chicago

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posted 5 years ago

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Blake, you might want to plant Witchhazel (hamamelis virginiana) if you have room. It is great native medicinal and also a late season food source for bees. Flowers bloom at beginning of winter.

Weeds are just plants with enough surplus will to live to withstand normal levels of gardening!--Alexandra Petri

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Blake Lenoir

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posted 5 years ago

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I think I have more room at my community farm down on the south side. How about buttonbush, snowberry, coralberry, and others that will deal with erosion and maintaining soil stability. You planted partridge pea before as a cover crop?

Marisa Lee

pollinator

Posts: 221

Location: South Shore of Lake Superior

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posted 4 years ago

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You have good ideas already. Some others that come to mind, for native trees and shrubs that support wildlife: juneberry, chokeberry, hawthorn, hazelnut.

Habitat additions may include:
ringing the bottom of the bed with stones (or including a little pile of them somewhere, if fully surrounding the bed isn’t an option)
laying a terra cotta pot on its side in the soil, facing north/east or on the shady side of the bed, great reuse for a cracked one
placing a dish of small stones and adding water daily (I use a huge terra cotta saucer for this, catching water under my spigot)
leaving small log or board on the ground to rot

These things are helpful for many animals, but in my garden I’m thinking mainly of toads and salamanders when I do these things. Oh a little brush pile is great, too - cover for small animals like snakes, and maybe home to beneficial insects.

growing food and medicine, keeping chickens, heating with wood, learning the land
https://mywildwisconsin.org

Anne Miller

master steward

Posts: 19751

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4956

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posted 4 years ago

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Marisa's comments reminded me about planting for butterfly larva.

When you find a caterpillar, pay attention to which plant the caterpillar is eating. Each species can feed only upon a limited number of plants, so knowing the host plant is a big clue.

Here are a dew Host Plants and which Butterflies/Larvae use them:

Dill, Fennel, Parsley
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Passion Flowers (Passiflora spp.)
Sunflower (Helianthus spp.

https://permies.com/t/59499/Good-Caterpiller-butterfly-caterpillar

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Blake Lenoir

Posts: 1085

posted 4 years ago

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Howdy folks! Missed me? I just had to take care of other things, but I'm here now. I wanna find if we can use domestic types such as sunflowers, sorghum, corn and buckwheat to aid birds and other creatures in the short term, while aiding the growth and maturity of our native plants in our gardens. Am I making any sense here?

Anne Miller

master steward

Posts: 19751

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4956

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posted 4 years ago

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Blake said, "sunflowers, sorghum, corn and buckwheat to aid birds and other creatures in the short term while aiding the growth and maturity of our native plants in our gardens.

Yes, wildlife will love those.

I know the wildlife will like sunflowers and corn for sure!. I have no experience with sorghum and buckwheat though I see no reason the wildlife would not love those, too.

You might want to include some native wildflowers for the pollinators, also.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Blake Lenoir

Posts: 1085

posted 4 years ago

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How about millet, safflower and domestic thistle for homegrown bird food?

Randy Bachman

pollinator

Posts: 54

posted 1 year ago

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I started my garden on our new homestead. It has no soil, just dirt. It is really clay down at least 2 feet. All my hugels are built on two foot deep clay cells. I have no earthworms naturally so have added Walmart night crawlers as I go. Lots if pollinators like wasps. But every bed with onions is home to toads. They have built their little homes in the side of onions. It is a joy to be pulling bermuda and have these little friends come to their opening and watch me work. So I am adding onions to all the beds so toads will move in. It is beyond cool.

Blake Lenoir

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posted 1 year ago

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Greetings folks! Toads are an outstanding sight to any garden and are a force to combat pests and prolong the balance to the ecosystem. Could they create burrows under these mounds?

Randy Bachman

pollinator

Posts: 54

posted 1 year ago

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Blake Lenoir wrote:Greetings folks! Toads are an outstanding sight to any garden and are a force to combat pests and prolong the balance to the ecosystem. Could they create burrows under these mounds?

They have no problem digging borrows, even in clay crust. Now that baby toadlets are everywhere I am expecting my mounds will look more like Bag End soon, maybe even with green doors!

Blake Lenoir

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posted 1 year ago

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Could I set aside a small puddle or bath for toads to drink or bathe in?

Randy Bachman

pollinator

Posts: 54

posted 1 year ago

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Blake Lenoir wrote:Could I set aside a small puddle or bath for toads to drink or bathe in?

Mine dont seem to care. I guess they get water from the drip system. But it might be nice until the mosquitoes find it.

Blake Lenoir

Posts: 1085

posted 1 year ago

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How we make our toad habitats last longer in a hugelkultur habitat? I'd like for more toads to come by every year to contribute to my mini ecosystem. What ways they help crops besides hunting pesky bugs?

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