What is Hügelkultur?

Whether you’re interested in creating the perfect garden in your own cultivation, or you’ve started getting into gardening in other ways, then it’s likely you’ve stumbled across the word hügelkultur (pronounced Hoo-gul-culture) before. 

But what exactly is a hügelkultur and why do people use them in their gardens? Let’s define hügelkultur and then we’ll tell you why hügelkulturs are one of our favorite cultivation techniques here in Mendocino County.  

Defining Hügelkultur

A hügelkultur is basically a raised garden bed, but instead of being lifted off the ground by wood or planks, you pile various sticks, branches, and logs. Rather than building a raised garden bed and then planting your plants inside it, hügelkulturs require that you build the bed and wait a few months before putting the plants in-place. 

The hügelkultur is a technique implemented in the world of horticulture to maximize the nutrients in a garden. This is one of the many reasons why hügelkulturs are so important! 

Why Is Hügelkultur Important?

Hügelkulturs are an amazing way to make use of what's already in your yard. These raised garden beds are created with all-natural branches and sticks, but the best part is that you don't need brand new pieces of wood. 

You know all of those seemingly useless branches, twigs, and sticks that would otherwise end up in a brush pile? Instead, you can put all of those fallen wood pieces scattered around your yard to good use and incorporate them into your hügelkultur. 

In addition to recycling natural resources, a hügelkultur also provides a plethora of nutrients to your growing plants in a way that regular garden beds cannot. The construction of a hügelkultur naturally improves the overall water retention of the soil as well. 

As a result, you will not have to expend as much water because the soil inside of hügelkulturs holds onto water very well. Hügelkulturs are self-sustaining which is yet another benefit of using them in your garden. 

Better water retention yields greater soil fertility, which is very good for your palnts in the long run. Hügelkulturs have also been shown to create warmer soil for the plants to grow from, which protects your starts no matter what time of year it is. 

The Right Time of Year to Build and Cure Your Hügels

While you’re certainly free to plant inside a hügelkultur any time of the year, these garden beds thrive the most during the springtime. But this doesn’t mean you should start building your hügels in the spring. 

In Mendocino County, there is no better time to plant hügelkultur beds than right now. If you have a cultivation license in The County of Mendocino, set your hügels up for success by building them during the rainy winter months. 

Instead, you will want to start building your hügelkulturs in the late-autumn, early-winter months. The weather is warm but not hot, which is perfect for hügelkultur development. 

The rainfall that we experience here in Mendocino County during the winter is incredibly beneficial to our gardens. Hügelkulturs work best when they are given time to settle, so you never want to plant your starts into the hügels immediately after building them. 

Make sure you incorporate some sort of nitrogen-rich substance. Compost, for example, is very high in nitrogen, which will eventually assist you in preventing the wood from decaying over time. 

Mulch is another essential layer of hügelkulturs because mulch will protect the soil and starts from weeds. Also, mulch is known for reducing the likelihood of erosion, which is another preventative measure just like the compost.

A hügelkultur garden will yield the best results if you make sure to create layers from wood, compost, soil, mulch, and cannabis starts, in that order.

Companion Planting and Hügelkulturs

If you want to increase the effectiveness of your hügelkulturs in Mendocino County tenfold, companion planting is the way to go. Companion planting is the art of lining hügelkulturs with plants that will nurture the soil of your hügels even more. 

By planting seeds of certain crops along the side of your hügels, you will end up creating a line of defense protecting your cannabis starts as well. The companion planting method acts as an organic insect & pet repellent, meaning your cannabis will be safe from predators while they grow in the hügel beds.

Some of the best companion plants for the cannabis garden include... 

  • Basil

  • Chamomile 

  • Dill weed 

  • Lavender

  • Marigolds 

  • Sunflowers

  • White clovers 

Can You Use Hügels for Cultivating Cannabis? 

There are many different ways to go about planting cannabis starts that will grow into mature, flowering plants, but in this blog post, we are just going to focus our attention on the hügelkultur growing method.

Not only does the hügelkultur method work wonders for cannabis cultivation, but your soil also reaps a plethora of benefits as well. You can expect to put about two days' worth of time and energy into creating your hugel beds, but that's nothing compared to the three decades of fertile soil that hugels provide for cannabis plants. 

This means that your cannabis plants will thrive for about thirty years on average before the construction of new hugels is required. All in all, you can definitely use  hugels for cultivating cannabis in a sustainable fashion.

Follow this step-by-step process for the best results: 

  • Start with your branches and twigs 

  • Layer grass, leaves, and mulch on top as fertilizer 

  • Add a generous amount of compost on top of the greens 

  • Shovel a layer of soil atop the compost  

Why Is Hügelkultur the Best Growing Method for Cannabis? 

Hügelkulturs are one of the best growing methods because they embody the concept of permaculture as a whole. Defined by Australian ecologist, Bill Mollison, permaculture is a concept that promotes harmony between nature and humanity. 

The idea is that human beings can work with the natural way of the world instead of damaging the land and designing manmade structures in its place. Unlike hügelkulturs, many different cultivation techniques require mechanical manipulation of the land. 

Farmers will actively alter the soil so that it behaves in their favor. The soil can be manipulated in a variety of ways. 

A couple of examples include altering the soil's temperature or changing the natural infiltration abilities of the soil. While this may yield desirable results for certain plants and crops alike, this is not an ideal approach for cultivating happy, healthy plants.

Hügelkultur beds are referred to as a no-till farming method, which is especially important when cultivating cannabis. The “no-till” aspect of hügelkulturs means that tillage, or the process of intentionally changing the soil in artificial ways, is not invoked with hügels. 

Cannabis products are all-natural alternatives to many lab-made medicinal remedies. In order to preserve cannabis in its natural form, the plant must grow in environments that are free from preservatives, additives, and any other chemicals. 

For example, if you were to plant cannabis starts in a plot of land that has been chemically altered, the plants would then absorb the chemicals through their roots, leading to unclean medicine and failed laboratory testing. 

That is why hügelkultur beds are the way to go when cultivating cannabis. They allow the cannabis plant to grow in the most natural way in harmony with the land and it’s ecosystem.

Have you tried gardening with hugels before? Let us know in the comments below...

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