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hugelkultur

do I need to dig a trench?

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posted 6 days ago

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Hi all. I want to start a Hugel bed but do not have access to anything but a shovel and a pick axe and that will be a lot of work! Can I just put logs, etc. directly onto the ground without digging? I have loads of access to trees, medium to small, as well as composted horse poo. I appreciate any and all ideas!

D Nikolls

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Location: Victoria BC

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posted 6 days ago

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No trench needed; as long as you have plenty of manure and/or other suitable stuff to cover the wood, it will work just fine as an entirely raised hugel. I've used less-rotten wood to build a frame for a raised bed around such hugels and been entirely happy with the results.

Probably you are already aware, but best to be very sure there are no persistent broad-leaf herbicides in that horse manure, they can pass right through the horse and fuck your plants up if the hay was sprayed!

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Joylynn Hardesty

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posted 5 days ago

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No trench needed. However, from my understanding, a good amount of soil layered with the wood is needed for it to work as a growing bed anytime soon. Of course, if you have a couple years to let the leaves, sticks and stuff break down into soil, cool!

Here is a link to Paul's huglkulture article.

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How Permies Works Dr. Redhawk's Epic Soil Series

Joao Winckler

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posted 5 days ago

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Raised hugel works fine, probably easier to build up high too since you are not limited by trench depth. The composted horse poo is a real bonus, should help it get going much faster than wood alone.

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M Ljin

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posted 2 days ago

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Paul Wheaton’s method:

I don’t make nearly that big hugels because I am one person working alone, decently strong but not extraordinarily (well maybe not that strong), and I use hand tools. All the sawing, dragging of logs, etc. are a lot of effort. I hope to do more in the future but for now, 2 or 3ft hugels are what works.

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