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New YouTube Video on Hügelkultur Raised Bed 3 Year Inspection
Just came across this video that was posted in the last month on The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni. He tears apart a 3-year-old hügelkultur raised bed to look at the progress of the logs he buried in the bed. He was very happy with the results. I think the whole video is worth watching, but I have linked this video to the section where he starts to pull out and look at the buried logs in the bed.
One thing I noticed was that he said annuals do best with 12-18 inches of soil depth. My raised bed gardens are only 16 inches high to begin with, and after putting in the hügelkultur logs and sticks, I have about 6-8 inches of topsoil/compost to fill the raised bed. That's a whole lot less than 12-18 inches of soil. But I seem to have great results.
I am wondering if the roots continue to grow down through the log layer and into the ground level soil if they need? I don't have any physical barrier between my logs and the ground soil. So, there is nothing to prevent a root from growing down into the ground level soil.
Also, each year I am adding 1-2 inches of fresh compost to the top of my raised beds, so I am thinking that over time (years) my soil depth in the raised bed must be expanding as the logs decay underneath. I guess a deeper soil base would be a good thing.
Well, based on my results, I am not too concerned that I might only have 8 inches of topsoil/compost in the top of my hügelkultur raised beds. But I would love to hear any feedback from other gardeners on how much soil you put in your raised beds and if you think the soil depth makes a big difference. Thanks.
Just came across this video that was posted in the last month on The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni. He tears apart a 3-year-old hügelkultur raised bed to look at the progress of the logs he buried in the bed. He was very happy with the results. I think the whole video is worth watching, but I have linked this video to the section where he starts to pull out and look at the buried logs in the bed.
One thing I noticed was that he said annuals do best with 12-18 inches of soil depth. My raised bed gardens are only 16 inches high to begin with, and after putting in the hügelkultur logs and sticks, I have about 6-8 inches of topsoil/compost to fill the raised bed. That's a whole lot less than 12-18 inches of soil. But I seem to have great results.
I am wondering if the roots continue to grow down through the log layer and into the ground level soil if they need? I don't have any physical barrier between my logs and the ground soil. So, there is nothing to prevent a root from growing down into the ground level soil.
Also, each year I am adding 1-2 inches of fresh compost to the top of my raised beds, so I am thinking that over time (years) my soil depth in the raised bed must be expanding as the logs decay underneath. I guess a deeper soil base would be a good thing.
Well, based on my results, I am not too concerned that I might only have 8 inches of topsoil/compost in the top of my hügelkultur raised beds. But I would love to hear any feedback from other gardeners on how much soil you put in your raised beds and if you think the soil depth makes a big difference. Thanks.