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Raised beds have been a garden savior for me, here in Texas, with our thick, hard, clay soil. Don't get me wrong, I have experimented with amending it with leaf mulch, compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. But there is nothing like planting in a raised bed with fresh, loose, fertile soil. I've been researching and trying different types of beds in my garden and I've used a variety of methods for filling up my raised beds but in this new one, I am trying something a little different. I'll be using the hugelkultur garden bed method to fill my newest raised bed.
What is a hugelkultur bed?
I'll be lining the bottom of my new galvanized steel bed with cardboard. Next, add a layer or two of logs that my husband brings home from work, and then adding a layer of leaves and grass clipping. Then, add peat moss, compost, and soil mix. This method is similar to the hugelkultur raised beds where you mound up the soil with logs, sticks, compost, etc. to make a bed that produces thriving plants. But, my bed isn't mounded, check it out.
Why use a hugelkultur bed?
As time progresses, the materials in the bed will begin to break down and decay. The process adds nutrients into the soil medium for healthy and well-established plants. Awesome, right? Well, to top that off, the main advantage I see being beneficial is that over time as the logs break down they will retain water, like a sponge. The sponge-like behavior helps keep the internal core of the bed moist to prevent the beds from becoming dry and reducing the need to water consistently. Talk about a game-changer for this little beginner gardener living in sweltering Texas!
The photo below is of a small bed I put together from leftover stones my husband used to line an established bed. I also had a little extra solid so I decided to cover a patch of bare soil with a strawberry and herb garden. It was a lot of fun playing outside, it reminded me of when I was a girl. We all need that sometimes, especially now, so I encourage you to get out there and play in the dirt!
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