So if your summer landscaping efforts have left you with wood chips, garden scraps, and dead leaves, don't throw them away. Instead, use them to create a fantastically named and tried-and-true gardening substrate: hugelculture.
scoop
TikTok user Future Thinkers (@futurethinkers) posted a video explaining what a hügelkultur is and how to build one.
@futurethinkers Trying out ancient gardening techniques #permaculture #hugelkultur #ancient #ancestralwisdom #ancestral #growfood #growyourownfood #gardening #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #Ecovillage #smartvillage #sustainableliving #regenerativeagriculture #regenerativefarming #regeneration ♬ Original Sound – Future Thinkers
She explains that hügelculture is “an ancient Eastern European gardening technique” – the word itself is German for “mound culture” – and the nutrient-rich horticultural mounds are made from multiple layers of organic material.
“It's like a giant lasagna made from a compost pile,” the creator explains.
To create it, she collects and layers materials, including “wood chips, leaves, grass clippings, compost, soil and mulch.”
“I also added some wood ash to boost its nutritional value,” she added.
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Now that her “giant garden lasagna” is complete, she says she's ready to plant.
How it helps
Hugelculture has a ton of benefits. It basically acts as a raised garden bed, perfect for growing healthy, affordable food, flowers, and native plants. And research shows that gardening has positive effects on your physical and mental health.
Plus, making a garden lasagna like this not only helps you upcycle your garden waste and compost, it also helps you grow healthier plants and support your local ecosystem as a whole: as compost and organic matter breaks down, it releases nutrients into the soil, enriching it.
The creators also point out that the mound “retains moisture and warmth, increases soil fertility, promotes beneficial microorganisms, and reduces the need for tilling, watering, and weeding.” Ultimately, hügelculture requires no changes to the land beneath it; TikTok users say they just picked a sunny spot.
These mounds conserve water, prevent flooding during heavy rains, and protect the surrounding landscape and wildlife habitat.
What everyone is saying
Those who commented were impressed and eager to try making their own Hugelkultur.
“No dig gardens are great,” one person wrote. “I've been doing it since the 70's.”
“Using logs is a great idea because it saves water,” said another.
The OP responded to this with clarification: “One thing to note is that you probably don't want to do this in a warm climate because of the risk of termites. We live in Canada, where it's too cold for termites, so that's fine.”
“It works so beautifully, I love it,” commented another user.
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