Hi all,
There seems to be a lot of information out there on the benefits of
hugelkultur and how to build
hugelkultur beds, but not much about managing them.
About a year an a half ago I put in an experimental hugelkultur bed, about 5' tall and wide and 40' long. My initial thoughts were that hugels would be best suited to perennials, however I read that raised hugels were not very ideal for
trees and large bushes due to settling. I went ahead and put in a couple of
fruit trees and bushes anyway, just to see. The trees are doing ok, though no better than any of the other trees I planted in a more traditional manner. The rest of the beds I intended to put into a mixture of annuals and small perennials. The problem I am now having is weeds, particularly grasses.
Weeds are not a problem in my other garden and orchard areas, as I mostly use livestock to control them. I am afraid to give my animals access to the hugles though, because I would probably end up with short wide mounds of dirt with exposed
wood in the middle. Even hand weeding seems detrimental, as pulling grass bunches quickly erodes the hugel, and
composting the grass in place is out of the question as it would just re-establish. Plus, I though that once built, hugels were supposed to decrease work, not increase it. Am I just in the wrong climate? I live in the Pacific Northwest, which due to the wet winters and typically dry summers ought to be ideal for the
water retaining attributes of hugelkultur.
As of now I have a large mound of weeds that have overgrown everything I tried to establish. I am wondering if I am missing something, or was the hugel bed just a wast of effort?
Thanks!
P.S. I am trying un-raised hugles as well; from my initial observations I think these might work much better in terms of management.