My Keyhole Nursery Hugelkultur

Hello, part-time gardener here working hard to convert my new homestead into a permaculture garden. With some dead trees down, I decided to turn a spot of my garden into a keyhole nursery hugelkultur. I plan to use this to grow and propagate the huge number of beneficial plants that will eventually populate my garden, grow cuttings of existing plants before transplanting them to their home, and the like. I want it to be workable from all sides, but clearly the main working space is right in the middle.

I started and finished the building in May 2023 between obligations to my full time job and young family. There's a mix of wood - tamarack, spruce, cherry, poplar, birch, and apple. I think the large amount of conifer wood is going to make for a more acidic soil.

and throughout June and July I transplanted many plants from around the yard in an attempt to build roots and help establish the structure. Throughout Summer and fall I threw on many seed heads of plants that I want to propagate around the garden - red clover, vetch, dandelion, plantain, nettle, and many others collected from walks.

As winter comes to a close, I took a look, and it's settled quite a bit. I didn't add dirt between layers, so there's probably a lot more settling to do. I'll add more compost and soil this year. Maybe when it's dry I can funnel some dirt right into the holes.

I'm planning to plant an Amur Maackia tree a few feet west of the nursery to give some afternoon shade for the young plants (and myself), and add some nitrogen to the soil.

Thank you for learning about my project!

Great work Alan,
I'll be interested to see how the hugel progresses. Please be sure to post updates!

I agree. Will be waiting for updates on how this progresses. I would love a few of those on my place.

Well done, a great project, will be interesting to see how it responds :-)

Having made 1 long very deep hugelcultur berm, I’m very curious & interested in your keyhole design. I love how you’ve been adding to it, enriching the soil development.
I’m curious how deep you dug for the foundation? And how high the keyhole berm is? Thanks!

Hey Alan, that's really cool. Might try a version of it myself. Based  on past experience, for the first few years keeping the soil moist will be a challenge given the shallow soil over logs which will take a while to decompose somewhat to hold moisture.  The elevation increases sun and wind exposure increases drying, as will any cracks to allow air flow.. Mulch, green or brown will help. Great you are getting numerous plants in to help with that.
I look forward to updates on your progress. Thanks for the pics.

Thanks everybody for the interest! I went out and took a photo today... despite my objections, and the predictions of the groundhog, Winter remains entrenched in my garden, and I'm stuck waiting for when I can start work again.

I've looked closely at the hugel and the holes throughout, they sure look like rodent entry/exit holes, and the paths leading up to the various holes makes it look like the hugel was a metropolis for moles, voles, mice and the like over the winter. Fine for them, but I also want the soil to settle and 'cave in' over time.

 I’m curious how deep you dug for the foundation? And how high the keyhole berm is? Thanks!

The bed was on a slightly sloped area, so following around the edge varies between 3 inches down and 8 inches down. I stacked the logs 3 to 3.5 feet high, then a layer of much smaller branches on the top, then the soil on top.

Based  on past experience, for the first few years keeping the soil moist will be a challenge given the shallow soil over logs which will take a while to decompose somewhat to hold moisture.  The elevation increases sun and wind exposure increases drying, as will any cracks to allow air flow.. Mulch, green or brown will help. Great you are getting numerous plants in to help with that.

That makes a lot of sense.. I can imagine a heavy steady wind circulating all the air on the inside of the hugel, and drying it out from the inside as well as from the outside. I'll throw a lot of green mulch over all sides of the nursery this year. And if the soil dries out anyway, maybe that will help the soil settle and fill in the cracks and air pockets. I expect to see 'depressions' show up in the top layer as this happens, which I can amend with organic material, soil, and mulch.

I'm planning to add some soil and brown mulch once things start turning green. I want to let some of the early growth emerge first so I can select some desirable ones and fill around them.

Thanks everyone for your posts and appreciation for my hugel! I look forward to when I can post a greener update

The hugel nursery is coming along! So far it's coming up slower than everything else in the garden. I've been taking unwanted grass clumps from under my apple tree and plunking them into the sides of the nursery, hoping some of them establish and start resisting erosion. I added soil and transplanted in some yarrow and fennel which look happy.

Coming up from seed I'm seeing grass, red clover, dandelion, bedstraw, all of which probably have seeds in every cubic inch of topsoil in my garden. The perennial lily and oregano seem fine, though I have a feeling the winter rodent metropolis went to town on those delicious lily roots. I took some new growth from a fallen lilac tree and popped them in to see if they'll take root. I spread a bunch of milkweed seeds in a small area, hoping some of them come up. Next up, I have many indoor seedlings that will be ready to plant out in a week or two.

The kids and I picked a few 'truckfulls' of ground elder (which had taken over all the home gardens when we moved in) and threw them on top as wet mulch. I went through afterward and made sure the little sprouts still got sunlight.

I'll post updates as things take root!

Things are taking root! The grass chunks i plunked into the side of the hugel are doing great, I figured about half would die but I haven't had to remove any yet! I think they'll do a great job holding back some of the erosion when the hugel gets watered.

The plants on top are doing fine, not growing tremendously but it's a first year hugel so the soil is at its weakest.

I occasionally fill a bucket with grass, dandelions, or other greenery and lay it on the sides and top of the hugel, especially where there's holes. Is it working? Probably. Hugel seems happy

Here is a tour of all the different plants (and some fungus) growing in my nursery

Hi Alan - thanks for sharing that! The hugel is really starting to look good. Any idea what the fungi are? I guess they are a sign that the wood is starting to break down already. I think campion may be an edible...(looks up)...Hmm, probably not this site suggests they contain saponins; so soap rather than food! Always best to double check a few sources

Thanks for sharing your hugel video Alan, fungi are a great sign things are happening underneath as well as on top. There's quite a bit coming through so keep us posted from time to time so we can see the timeline of how it's handling growth and what is liking to self-seed. It's encouraging to see.

Update, everything is doing great! I haven't been watering it, but I've been trimming the grass and chop+drop the dandelions and horseweed which are numerous.

Yarrow finished blooming and it's one of the plants I want all over my garden, so I took half the flower heads and shredded it all over the nursery. The other half I saved in a jar so I can plant more mindfully. I've got an indoor grow room where I'll start some seeds in late winter and plant out come spring. Yarrow will be among them.

Fennel will get the same treatment soon. It's blooming now.

Sorrel is really coming up everywhere in my nursery and yard, I'm excited at how easy that will be to get going in all my guilds. I love munching on it as I head out to garden.

If next year is like this one, I'll have the opportunity to pick and plant out lots of red clover, sorrel, strawberry, and plantain, so I'm going to try to get used to that.

Also, here is a close up of the mushrooms, still going strong!