Birth of a Hugelkulture..?

While one hugel is on its way out: https://permies.com/t/249331/Death-hugelkulture#2316965

Another is about to be born. Or is it?  

Am I making a mistake?  

This is in mom and dads garden, which is on a small lot with very little space to play with, in a meticulously manicured space.  Mom and Dad aren't exactly "Permies", and they reluctantly deal with, but sometimes tolerate, my unconventional visions and experiments. I was given an OK to redo their annual garden space, which is a fertile section of earth that always produces huge tomato plants, lots of carrots, peppers, and a nice diversity of greens.  

Here are a couple of photos showing the spot to potentially be transformed:





I have already started staging the material and digging around the edges.  It will be a horseshoe shape facing towards the southwest, so kind of a sun trap, but not totally.  The horseshoe will wrap around with enough space for another hugel island in the middle.  If i continue with this vision/experiment then more photos will come to show this more clearly.

This is a huge amount of work. No machines being used.  Just me and a shovel for the most part.  



I am now questioning this decision, especially after reading into the recent post about the death of a hugel.  My concerns are that the hugel will not be as productive as the space was previously, and will become infested with slugs, which tend to already be a problem in the garden.  

I do have some ideas for dealing with the slugs, such as raising my own slug killing nematodes, strategically growing "trap" plants such as cabbage in pots that can be moved around from one spot to another, and placing older flat and rotting lumber around to lift up and pick off the slugs from for purpose of consistently feeding the DIY nematode solution.  Im thinking of diluting this potion and soaking it in and around the hugel from time to time.

The size will be nothing like what Paul typically recommends, so no BB points for hugelkulture with this project.  Ill be shooting for about 4-5 ft tall, and about 3-4 ft wide at the base.  

Am I wasting my time, creating an eye sore for mom and dad, inviting too many pests, and ultimately giving "permaculture" a bad name with this?  

A project to experiment with in the future on my own land instead?  

That is a cute space for small hugels! If it were me, I would add a couple 2-3 feet tall hugels (or your preferred height) with at least 4 feet between them. Drought tolerant plants on top, shade tolerant plants on north side, sun loving plants on the south side, herbs in the shade of larger plants, trellis if needed, and point out that it is technically a "raised bed" and they can grow more on/in it because they have added vertical space.

Ah, I would use the existing irrigation so it can grow something this first year. If you have sprinklers, attach a small line with a fitting under one of the sprinklers and run micro sprinklers to the top of the hugel. If there is drip, run drip pipe along and around the hugel.

I think, in general, knowing how the Hugel operates and the different stages is something that is best to know upfront before embarking on one.

You are creating a sponge on the bottom that with time will become a water/nutrition/good stuff battery for everything that is growing on top of it. This however takes time as the twigs/sticks/logs break down and become porous allowing all sorts of fungal/bacterial/microscopic life to establish and create some stability.

I find Paul's thread discussing his webpage article to have some valuable insights in both.

Irrigation the first year or two will help get everything established and get some growies but time is something you will have to account for to see success in my opinion.

I've had some thoughts about hugels lately where it seems like there is a minimum critical mass. Below a certain threshold, the effort invested might never be regained. For instance, there is a ratio of diameter to volume that changes massively as diameter increases. With logs acting as a sponge, having logs be both large and numerous will vastly increase the ability of a hugel to absorb and then release water. The same number and length of 4" logs won't be half the volume of 8" logs, but rather only one quarter. If a place is particularly dry then below a certain amount of sponge action it won't be enough to keep up. If it is compounded by getting a lot of rain at once then the sponge may not be able to absorb enough to make it until then next rain.

Another thing is erosion. The surface area to volume problem also applies, even if it is a bit more difficult to calculate the volume of a rough hugel shaped mound compared to a log. Below a certain size, the yearly erosion may be significant enough to render it ineffective in a short time, whereas a hugel over your head is likely to still be a substantial earthwork for years to come even without maintenance. The effort of building and maintaining one that isn't able to retain enough water may be more effort than it is worth, and that gets compounded if the location is such that there is no room for it to erode down and spread out a bit without being obligated to address the issue. Obligation is poison and future person may resent past person for giving them that burden.

Obviously there are tons of factors to consider. In my area of sand, lots of rain, and no freeze cycle, things in the ground quickly get broken down by fungi, carried off by bugs, or washed deep below the top soil. Massive hugels can still work, but even they aren't going to be as long lived around here. Perhaps properties with much more clay and protection from erosion can make good long term use of them. Rain isn't an issue, but the rain we get is created by evaporation. Mitigating evaporation and erosion would be more important than the sponge factor for me because it rains so frequently. Of course in the long term the sponge factor would likely break down very quickly, so oversizing for that would be important if I don't want to have to rebuild it in a few years. The only redeeming factor for me is that sand is very easy to dig.

One other thing I think about regularly is in one of the early podcasts where Paul talked about mulching, and how if you can only afford so much mulch, then it is better to have deep mulch over a smaller area than too thin mulch over a larger area. Having a few very happy plants is likely to be an easier time than a bunch of sad plants. There's a certain critical mass there too. It might be different depending on the region and the plants involved. Sad plants will always struggle, content plants will be ok in fair weather and sad in poor weather, and really happy plants will be bountiful through good times and bad.

To come at this from another angle to give some other context that might resonate with some is a thing I have heard on Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast. There are the select few times in history where a smaller group manages to defend against or fight off a vastly larger opponent. Those stories get told and retold in books and movies thousands of years later, but those are very much the exception and not the rule. By most historical accounts, the larger army almost always wins. Sometimes there is an obsession with quality and picking through the finer details of things, and it can certainly be for good reason, but as Dan Carlin says, "Quantity has a quality all its own."

Arthur, you’re getting lots of good information.

I live in arid country which puts me on the lookout when it comes to hugelkulture.  You say your parents’ space is dry.  If your climate is also dry, you might do better to excavate and fill with wood and have the top of your bed even with surrounding soil level.  Water retention is improved, erosion is minimal…  hugelkulture  is best utilized in circumstances where you want dryer warmer soil.

Another advantage to buried hugelkulture is you can make it any shape you want….

Keep us posted what you decide to do.

Hi Arthur;  I agree with Thekla.
In a small area like you have,  an underground hugel  would be more labor intensive to build but would work well and have the added benefit of pleasing your mom!
Although parents are very tolerant of "the kid's crazy idea"  I suspect Mom would not be overly pleased with an exposed hugel. They are rather unsightly when first built.
At our home, we have switched to having raised beds. (getting old)  The hugel idea is so innovative that I wanted to try it.
I started by hand excavating 2' deep where I wanted the raised bed. Then I filled the very bottom with large soft split firewood pieces. Filling in all air gaps as I came up. Smaller brush and debris were added until I reached ground level.  At that point, I built my box on top. More wood products were added with nice compost filling the gaps, the final 2' is all good garden soil.    

In your case, Mom's current spot is very attractive as is, by putting your wood products underground it will look the same and mom will have a smile.
She can tell all her friends about her son's silly idea... in two years when that hugel is performing and her tomatoes and other produce are growing like crazy she can then tell her friends about her brilliant son and his awesome idea!

Perhaps, hand dig the whole thing, it's not that large an area or rent a mini trac hoe and dig it out in an hour or two.

I have to agree with Thekla and Thomas a buried hugel will work way better in a smaller area especially if you also experience drier conditions and keep your parents happier with the look as well.  Mine don't annoy the neighbours even though they are both located in the front of my house, and I often share herbs with them

My 2 buried smaller hugels were started 9 years and 6 years ago. Both were packed with wood, filled in with bark and wood chip between the boughs and branches and topped with a lot of soil and much thicker mulch than my normal elevated gardens, I have mobility problems so find raised gardens are easier for me - I "chair garden" often when pain hits.

These 2  gardens work extremely well with both vegetable and fruit tree production and both hold water well, I add mulch and compost when I feel it is needed (by observing the condition of the plants, they usually let you know if anything is lacking).

I have not had to do any extra watering after the first 2 years of construction, when I had a little poke around and dug down the mycelial fungi growth was amazing and the "soak" of the wood was doing its job of water retention despite our summers often reaching over 100F/38C The fruit trees give a little dappled shade, but most of the garden is full sun. I have occasionally had to put shade cloth up when our weather warnings are high.

It takes a while for the wood to break down to the point of holding soak water underground for the roots. From what you say about how dry your area is I would also add drip irrigation as a backup for a couple of years until the hugel breaks down a little and really starts doing its job, don't expect immediate miracles until this happens.

Perhaps this might help? This man writes  interesting articles in his blog backed up by scientific findings.

https://www.gardenmyths.com/hugelkultur-gardening-hugelkultur-raised-beds/