2025 Garden season

[muddstopper]

Other options for bad soil are in ground or on ground hugelkultur mounds like these. Just dump a load of logs and then cover it with your soil/manure/compost/leaves/grass cuttings etc

Not trying to be argumentative, but, I have dug up old slab piles that I know where covered up in the 1940's and found slabs of wood intact and not nearly decomposed. While I do believe limbs and logs will eventually decay, I doubt I would live long enough to reap the benefit. On the other hand, wood chips, notably Ramail wood chips, contain 75% of a trees nutrients and will decompose much faster than logs or tree limbs. Ramail wood chips differ from the bagged wood chip products you buy from retail stores. ramail chips are the small limbs, twigs, mostly bark, of a tree. Hardwood bark being prefered instead of pine bark. Trees removed and then chipped with the bulk of the trunk material removed is much better than saw dust or nutrient poor large dia woods. I used to have the local power company dump all their wood chips on my property. I would get a 100 or so truck loads at a time. Thats a lot of chips. I would pile the chips as high as I could and then take my FEL and turn the piles every couple of months. This kept the piles hot and decomposing. I used these chips in my garden and for erosion control on steep slopes. I even managed to sell a lot for mulch. Properly composed wood chips; would turn those 100 truck loads into about 10 truck loads of composted material.
As for adding the chips to my garden, I never incorporated the chips into the soil during growing season. This reduces the nutrient tieup and robbing nutrients from the growing plants, I used the chips as a mulch, which you already know the benefits of, and after harvest I would then till the mulch material into the soil. This way the mulch was in direct contact with the soil and the sun during growing season yet not in a situation to where its decay could tie up nutrients needed for a productive garden, This method also speeds up the soil building process of applying qood materials to the soil. One other thing to consider when burying logs or wood chips, anything deeper than about 6-7 inches will create anaerobic conditions, starving the good microbes and slowing down the decomposition of the wood products.

 

[Let her rip]

Not trying to be argumentative, but, I have dug up old slab piles that I know where covered up in the 1940's and found slabs of wood intact and not nearly decomposed. While I do believe limbs and logs will eventually decay, I doubt I would live long enough to reap the benefit. On the other hand, wood chips, notably Ramail wood chips, contain 75% of a trees nutrients and will decompose much faster than logs or tree limbs. Ramail wood chips differ from the bagged wood chip products you buy from retail stores. ramail chips are the small limbs, twigs, mostly bark, of a tree. Hardwood bark being prefered instead of pine bark. Trees removed and then chipped with the bulk of the trunk material removed is much better than saw dust or nutrient poor large dia woods. I used to have the local power company dump all their wood chips on my property. I would get a 100 or so truck loads at a time. Thats a lot of chips. I would pile the chips as high as I could and then take my FEL and turn the piles every couple of months. This kept the piles hot and decomposing. I used these chips in my garden and for erosion control on steep slopes. I even managed to sell a lot for mulch. Properly composed wood chips; would turn those 100 truck loads into about 10 truck loads of composted material.
As for adding the chips to my garden, I never incorporated the chips into the soil during growing season. This reduces the nutrient tieup and robbing nutrients from the growing plants, I used the chips as a mulch, which you already know the benefits of, and after harvest I would then till the mulch material into the soil. This way the mulch was in direct contact with the soil and the sun during growing season yet not in a situation to where its decay could tie up nutrients needed for a productive garden, This method also speeds up the soil building process of applying qood materials to the soil. One other thing to consider when burying logs or wood chips, anything deeper than about 6-7 inches will create anaerobic conditions, starving the good microbes and slowing down the decomposition of the wood products.

I don’t find it argumentative it’s good to share opinions.
The idea behind burying logs is not just so they can decompose, they act like water batteries and harbour beneficial fungi that feed plants water and nutrients through the mycelium and improve soil structure. You don’t want composting materials in your grow beds as it will rob nutrients from the soil as you pointed out.
I also prefer wood chips from trees for mulch rather than commercial stuff, this year we are having some delivered from a local arborist. The chips on the rose bed I showed were chopped up clippings from the garden.

 

[muddstopper]

I had never heard of the term hugelkultur until you posted it. I had read about similar processes. I did look hugelkultur up this morning and read about it, not a deep dive, but enough to get a overlook at it. From what I read, it seems I am correct in some of my assumptions as to nutrient tieup, anaerobic conditions and moisture holding capabilities. I dont think I will be trying it, I am space limited and the bucket/pot method is a lot less work, an yields faster results.

 

[sonny580]

Container gardens can produce a LOT of veggies! IF space is limited they are an even better way to have fresh produce. Also you could move them anytime you needed til you find the best place for them.
We grew tons of different stuff in our 10 Earthboxes we used at the other place!

 

[Let her rip]

I am space limited and the bucket/pot method is a lot less work

That's fair enough if you are growing plants in pots then hugelkultur probably isn't for you. But if like me you need something that is going to retain moisture, slowly release nutrients and harbour beneficial fungi for raised beds and plots of land then hugelkultur is a great option. As I showed in the first post I made about it the results speak for themselves