My raised beds

Im a newbie so i was wondering...Could my raised beds still benefit from bury wood in them? Or is it to late to try? Oh, and also, is it ok to use willow? I had one i had to cut down This is my current setup:

yes
the idea of hugelkultur is mainly just to increase the organic matter in the soil so much that water is retained like a sponge, sood works great for that
willow would work BUT you run a high risk of the logs/branches growing a whole new tree right where your garden bed is, so you may find it best to use willow that has had the chance to dry for a couple of years so its not as likely to resprout

Devon Olsen wrote:yes
the idea of hugelkultur is mainly just to increase the organic matter in the soil so much that water is retained like a sponge, sood works great for that
willow would work BUT you run a high risk of the logs/branches growing a whole new tree right where your garden bed is, so you may find it best to use willow that has had the chance to dry for a couple of years so its not as likely to resprout

Ok, I will let the willow be for a few years for sure...I add TONS of compost to my beds each year so there is lots of organic material..I had thought about using the hugelkultur technique when i take my garden down, by simply burying the plants underneath, thought some of the plants that will be following might not appreciate it (because i guess some plants are just not compatible?). Think I will try this in the spring with all my small prunings and fallen limbs and such, should be interesting!

Oh, and would it be to early to start doing it? I thought if I start now while its cold out, that would give the process a chance to start, and then it would be ready for planting time

yes bury wood, no absolutely do NOT use willow, unless you want willow growing there !!! period.

the smallest piece of willow can sprout and make a new tree

I have been burying wood as i have harvested in many of my beds..last year I dug up and moved a gob of jerusalem artichokes, and as I managed to clear each bed of sprouting babies..i finally dug out all the soil down about 2' and filled the hole with wood and chips and mulch and whatever I could find and then I put the soil back in..

unless you have permanent beds you can do this..even in permanent beds you can dig a hole and stick in a chunk of wood..

you can also use pieces of wood on top of the soil around plants to protect them and feed them, I do that here..putting rotting logs around things like my baby nut and fruit trees, etc.

The smaller the wood (sawdust VS woodchip vs twigs vs log) the faster it will decompost and use up nitrogen so plan accordingly and use N-fixers.

That's one thing I'm worked about is nitrogen being robbed...but I'm hoping that compost will help offset that, and eventually the decomposition process will begin to put nitrogen BACK in the soil...