Hugel + rain garden?

I have a small hugel bed that needs to be dismantled to create a larger rain garden. I'm wondering if I can combine the 2 in a sense. Basically, dig down an extra 2 feet or so below the bottom of the rain garden and fill it up with all the partially decomposed wood from my hugel bed.

Rain gardens need excellent drainage, which they'll get from the wood and amendments. The woody debris would act as a sponge and help retain water during the drought months in the PNW.

I'm just brainstorming, and there are a couple downsides I can think of.  I'm not sure how much soil will need to be on top of the woody debris. This could make excavation really deep, which I'm not ready to do by hand. Also, the settling over the years may be an issue.

But I'm curious if anyone has created a rain garden this way. Kind of a sunken hugel bed?

Roger Anderson wrote:I have a small hugel bed that needs to be dismantled to create a larger rain garden. I'm wondering if I can combine the 2 in a sense. Basically, dig down an extra 2 feet or so below the bottom of the rain garden and fill it up with all the partially decomposed wood from my hugel bed.

Rain gardens need excellent drainage, which they'll get from the wood and amendments. The woody debris would act as a sponge and help retain water during the drought months in the PNW.

I'm just brainstorming, and there are a couple downsides I can think of.  I'm not sure how much soil will need to be on top of the woody debris. This could make excavation really deep, which I'm not ready to do by hand. Also, the settling over the years may be an issue.

But I'm curious if anyone has created a rain garden this way. Kind of a sunken hugel bed?

There are others experimenting with such methods. IMO in our climate it's probably a good idea but I haven't tested it myself.