What is Hügelkultur?
Hügelkultur is of German and Eastern European origin. It is pronounced “hoogle-culture” and translates to mound or hill culture. It’s a practice that has existed for thousands of years and dates back to the Middle Ages. In 1962, the term “hügelkultur” was first published in a German gardening book. It is an excellent way of using debris and resources from your property to help create healthy and high-yielding garden spaces, especially if your existing soil has low fertility and poor health. You are building a self-sustaining ecosystem as your garden bed.
Purpose of Hügelkultur
Hügelkultur practices mimic mother nature’s soil-building practices in forested areas. Logs, limbs, fallen leaves, natural soil, grass clippings, and compost are all stacked to create a highly fertile mound with components that will break down over time and add to the overall nutrient content and soil structure. In a raised garden bed setting, the Hügelkultur method can lessen the amount of soil and compost needed to fill the deep beds.
Straw and grass clippings are added on top of the leaf litter layer in a raised garden bed.
Julia Nichols ©2024 HGIC, Clemson Extension
Extending the growing season, improving drainage and aeration, and creating a microclimate beneficial to plants are all benefits of Hügelkultur. The beds or mounds aid in holding in heat and moisture while assisting in developing productive and healthy soil over time. The plant and tree material in hügelkultur beds acts like a sponge, holding moisture and distributing it into the soil during dry seasons. The decomposing wood and debris produce heat, which keeps plants warmer at night and during cold days. The leaves and grass clippings break down over time to add essential nutrients and improve soil texture, aiding in better drainage and aeration. For more information on organic matter, see The Role of Organic Matter in Healthy Soils.
How to Create Hügelkultur Beds or Space
For backyard gardeners with abundant biomass on their property, hügelkultur is a fantastic way to use that plant matter to build or fill garden beds. Depending on your goals with your mound or bed, you can play around with the size of wood you use as your bottom layer. The larger the piece of wood, the longer it will take to break down. Branches and smaller logs will break down sooner, quickly creating healthy soil for your bed. Do not use diseased trees or leaf matter, as this can contaminate your growing space. Always use appropriately cured compost, as well. For more information on composting, please visit HGIC 1600, Composting.
Mulching around your hügelkultur rows or beds is also advised, which will help with weed suppression and temperature control of the soil during blazing hot days and frigid nights. For more information on mulching, see HGIC 1253, Controlling Weeds by Cultivating & Mulching.
Raised beds: Begin by adding a 3- to 4-inch layer of corrugated cardboard at the bottom of your bed. This helps keep weeds down and encourages earthworms to move into your garden bed. The presence of earthworms can aid in breaking down organic matter and adding nutrients to your bed with their castings. Layer your wood material next from largest in diameter to smallest: logs, branches, twigs. Fill in the gaps between the wood and create a thick layer of plant material: grass clippings, fallen leaves, straw. Additionally, composted manure can be mixed in with your plant material layer. Add your topsoil as your next layer and, finally, organic compost as the top layer of your bed. Over time, as your woody materials break down, you must add more compost to keep your garden bed filled to the top. Adding organic compost before each planting season can help refresh the nutrients in your soil and help build better soil structure over time.
A topsoil layer is added to a raised garden bed.
Julia Nichols ©2024 HGIC, Clemson Extension
Organic compost is added as the final layer of a raised garden bed.
Julia Nichols ©2024 HGIC, Clemson Extension
Rows: Begin by digging a 2- to 3-foot deep trench the length of your garden row. Layer your wood materials in the trench from largest at the bottom to smallest on top: logs and thick branches. Fill in the gaps between the wood and create a thick layer of plant material by using grass clippings, fallen leaves, or straw. Additionally, manure can be mixed in with your plant material layer. Add another layer of woody material with just small twigs and top with more plant materials and manure. Lastly, add a thick layer of topsoil (the soil you removed when digging the trench) and then organic compost. Over time, as your larger wood materials break down, the mound may decrease in height. You can keep adding smaller twigs, topsoil, and organic compost over the top of your mound to retain its height. Add larger-sized materials during the off-season (Fall or Winter) to give them time to break down. Additional compost or topsoil can be added before your growing season begins.
Hügelkultur gardening diagram demonstrates how to layer materials for gardening rows.
Oklahoma State University Extension ©2020.
Illustration credit: Carmen Wright, Landscape Architecture student at Oklahoma State University.
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