My First HugelKultur

When we bought our house, the back yard was thick with sweet gum trees.  I knew I wanted to bring more light into our South facing back yard, but what to do with the wood?  After doing some research, I decided on a hugelkultur.

Hugelkultur is basically a pile of wood covered in growing medium.  As the wood breaks down, it "self tills" the soil, circulates oxygen, and retains water.  In theory, I can plant my pile of sticks and not have to do much else.  Mostly, I just like playing in the dirt and it sounded like a fun project.

I cut down a number of small sweet gums (make sure to check your municipal regs regarding tree preservation), and stacked them in a 4*12' trench that was existing on the property.  I had a lot of material, so the mound ended up being around 5 feet high.  It should get shorter over time as the wood breaks down and air pockets collapse. 

Next, I covered the wood pile with hay.  I got the hay bales from the city I live in, which was disposing of them after the town's fall festival.  They were happy to give them away for free. 

Finally, I covered the hay with dirt.  This was the hardest part :-). 

In the spring, I will plant the mound with flowers, veggies, and herbs.  I'd like to make a few more of these and have them form a "room" within the back yard. 

I'll post more pictures going forward to let you know who this goes.  I'll be interested to see if I "grow" more rats and snakes than plants.  :-)

These are two shots of the hugelkultur in my back yard.  It is nearly finished - but only about half covered in dirt.  Even after taking down some of the trees, it is a pretty shady back yard.  Accordingly, won't be able to use this for most veggies.