Just Bury Logs in your Raised Bed they said…

[@RoyHolder]

If gardeners drill lots of holes in the wood before they bury them they'll rot faster and benefit the garden sooner! Cheers from Australia! 👍

[@janetfernie6127]

What sort of timber would you use!.

[@hitreset0291]

And great for getting rid of prickly pear and a couple other 'hard to deal with' scrubs and plants. Plus wooden wicking bed set-ups are the bees knees >> only successful beds for forgetful waterers like me.

[@xx00zero00xx]

@@janetfernie6127 If you have trees and brush that you want to get rid of, then use that! Some people even keep fast-growing woody plants around specifically just to chop it up and put it into or onto the ground. If you don't have anything on hand, then don't worry about it; don't go out of your way to try this. Logs aren't better than soil. Logs simply become soil. As James explains in this video, this is done to save money.

[@jimj9040]

Logs Are better than just soil when you’re looking to hold onto your moisture in areas that don’t get a lot of natural rainfall…as was also shown.

[@kevincornell1439]

@@jimj9040 no they are not! all wood is anti microbial.

[@shawnbottom4769]

This is the first I have come across someone demonstrating the results of this method. Very nice!

[@carriejones9890]

Bought a house a couple of year’s ago and it had a huge pile of rotting firewood. I used it at the bottom of all my beds and it worked great!

[@n0m0ncreates]

if it was already rotting or rotted it wouldve been extremely easier for the break down to happen, in my experience i find that smaller sticks and branches in my raised beds works much better and faster then logs

[@pkwithmeplease]

why not just cut up the logs?@@n0m0ncreates

[@GardeningWithCoffee]

Same here!

[@sunshinetogo4221]

All the sticks he put in are gone. so sticks are quicker to decompose. Appreciate this info for future beds. Thank you.

[@GARDENER42]

The important thing is it was already decomposing. Using fresh cut logs means they take 7-12 years to decompose & ass nothing of worth for the first 4-5 years & actually use up nitrogen.

[@MightyPenn]

Bravo James! Best close-up demo of the results of a hugelkultur that I've ever seen! And I've watched MANY! The water! The mycelium! The root growth! I've never seen any of that before. Thank you! Hugs for Tuck.

[@JoeyMcSmokey]

We dug up our buried logs in our raised bed last spring. Despite our ongoing drought, the logs were like sponges filled with water. It was wonderful to see. I reused them when I moved the raised bed to it's new location.

[@wpchastain]

I have done that as well, never waste a resource!

[@user-friendlyhuman]

James, you may find this fascinating. The Australian Eucalyptus tree (big trees) that exist in gold-bearing regions have been found to contain microscopic gold particles in their leaves. I suppose what happens is the deep roots hit a gold vein and some of it is absorbed in solution. Very cool! So, money (gold) can and does grow on trees, which contradicts the age old saying that 'money doesn't grow on trees' 😅😊

[@brigidlaffey7343]

And Gold is a good healing agent - great for one’s health - and would be imparted into your produce via the compost/growing process 😊

[@teebob21]

@@brigidlaffey7343 That's a bunch of woo-woo. Gold is largely inert in biological systems. It is neither a healing agent, nor great for one's health. Luckily for morons, placebo is a hell of an effective drug.

[@reneesfoxynews6652]

That’s cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@DeltaH-9]

​@brigidlaffey7343 Can you share some peer reviewed scientific papers that show that gold is somehow good for health? Thanks.

[@mgeller854]

That saying was always a myth, money is almost directly made from trees and plant fibers; if you know anything about plants you can grow and sell renewable products others don’t have access to. So actually money literally grows from trees we’re just too stupid to see the relationship.😅 it’s funny to me how many people build raised beds out of perfectly cut wood so it’s perfectly square but you’re garden then rots away at a cost, you can just cut logs and roll them into walls by stacking them up like Lincoln logs, costs nothing.

[@loulauer5853]

I've done that technique for many of my deeper raised beds, some going on 5 years now. Without a doubt, they are THE best producing beds in my garden. The smaller stuff is all gone now and the larger logs have just about disappeared too.

[@bobs5596]

does that mean you have to add new logs now?

[@loulauer5853]

@@bobs5596 I imagine that would be quite difficult to remove all that soil and bury new logs. I don't plan on doing that. Now that the beds have a solid foundation and good soils, I just amend them as necessary with additional compost and nutrients.

[@wejesuss-1104]

No need I think, as long as it is in contact with the soil it will decompose, eventually life will beary it down for you (worms and others)@@bobs5596

[@debbieinitaly]

@@bobs5596no, just add layers of different organic mater in layers. Don’t stir the pot! Cardboard attracts worms. Layer all the Amazon boxes on your beds over winter.

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Great shot of the water those bits of old wood can retain - We dig out the walkways between beds and fill them in with sifted wood chips. The fines go on top of the bed, the coarse goes into the path/ditch (2-3 foot deep, depending on how many years, and how bad the topsoil was to start. Good soil goes on the beds, subsoil stays in the ditch.) .. and holds enough water to supply the plants and trees growing nearby all the way through the dry season without supplemental watering. Logs, or small branches like James used in his raised beds last a bit longer, but chips can be dug out of the walkways and added on top of their associated beds every other year. most of our beds are un framed except for the wood chips surrounding them, but we do have some that we made from concrete blocks, with hardware cloth at the bottom to keep gophers out. Both benefit from having this reservoir of water close at hand. OK, geek moment here: You noticed the earthworm on the log there .. here is what is happening: The fungi spread their mycelium through the log, consuming cellulose and lignin. As the fungi complete their life cycle, some of that mycelium dies off .. and becomes food for the worms, that can eat their way along that old mycelium track like a miner following a vein of ore. As the worm passes, it leaves its waste: a nitrate source! The nitrates further aid the decomposition process, resulting in fantastic soil in just a few years. Most of dead wood that falls and lies on the soil surface does not decompose and become soil organic matter: just the part where the wood is touching the soil horizon. When these logs were buried, it kept them moist and protected from oxidation, allowing the microbiome to do its work converting them to OM.

[@Ebonyraeful]

Thanks for showing us this. It was nice to see the results rather than just hearing the suggestion to bury the logs.

[@blackrocks8413]

we did it with our in-ground garden too. When they dug our pool we had them dig out a garden bed. All our debris sticks, roots, straw, paper, cardboard, sod, dead leaves. We have heavy clay soil, and most people do it here. Take advantage any time a back hoe is nearby

[@vaughan7835]

From Australia. I built raised beds, with logs & sticks on sandy, weedy soil a bit over a year ago, on wasted space at the rear of my brothers business, as I live in my Van, locally. I obviously didn't put enough mulch / woodchips on top. The weeds are thriving through it. What did grow, was screaming with joy! Really hot summer here already! & not a whole lot of rain. I'll have to start again but deeper & more cardboard lining the beds. I collect fruit (for seeds), veg & herbs from the local charity food bank, once a week. Total cost? Zero!

[@lilyrose4191]

Hi James! We already do this with our raised beds and it works very well ! We've had no problems at all. Thanks for sharing and your videos are terrific. We love to see your fluffy pal wandering around and eating veges! Tuck is such a good boy !!! 😀 Keep up the good work! Love your channel. 🙂 Blessings!

[@lilyrose4191]

Viewing your video, which premiered an hour ago ... in Australia (11-00am) on Sunday morning. Enjoying a tea/coffee break and watching your vid as we relax in the garden. You're inspiring us to go back to work ! 🙂

[@troutfisher7182]

I've been doing something similar, plus making diy biochar added to the beds. I'm in the drought stricken west, and have cut my water use in half. At the height of the drought I didn't put in a garden, but had a few kale plants which I stopped watering in June. To my amazement they didn't die or even wilt during the hot summer temps. They didn't grow much over the summer, but took off when the fall rains came.

[@stefanomoretti3664]

try putting raised beds under some kins of drought resistant tree for shade. Plants inside will thrive. I was taught this by a pro greenhouse owner that pointed my attention to 70% shading plastic webs the was using in Mediterranean summer so not to burn plants in jury august.

[@amykru]

My best friend is a bee expert. When she began using hugelkultur, native bees began nesting in her yard for the first time in 20 years. Hugelkultur provides important habitat for our pollinating friends. Native bees nest in a radically different fashion than honeybees, wasps, and hornets. Thank you! I am always looking for a way to spread the word about this important information. Remember: no bees, no food.

[@adultpersonman4612]

This was something I discovered by accident this year. I bought a property that was abandoned and have been clearing brush for the past couple years and just piling it up in a few spots, this year at the peak of summer each of them were teaming with different bees.

[@amykru]

@@adultpersonman4612 Yes, if everyone had even a small brush pile in their yard, the bee population would bee very happy!

[@MichaelRei99]

While they is a catchy slogan its not true. Lots of self pollinating plants. I ❤ Bees!

[@amykru]

@@MichaelRei99 75% of all flowering plants are pollinated by insects or animals. Should we amend the catchy slogan to reflect that fact?

[@smas3256]

No Carbon = No Life.

[@explained3799]

James, you are the light of my garden's life. :) I am so grateful for your videos and your clear teachings. I am learning and pray that I will someday realize something near the success of your garden. My confidence is growing, thanks to you. Will go out into the woods and find some nice jiucy rotting wood for my raised beds. I love how you explain the way the wood waters plants. You are my garden hero!!! - And Tuck is a delight! Love you both!!!

[@SmallWonda]

As I can't garden properly any more my husband made a trial raised bed this year and we filled the bottom with logs, sticks and some straw and topped it off with soil and it is doing well, although perhaps not in the ideal spot - we're in Australia, so it's mid summer here and the runner beans are flowering and we put in a few squash and melons... fingers X'd. I s'pose it's important to say only use natural timber - probably a good way to reuse the prunings and old logs, but not building lumber & never use treated lumber around food crops. Happy gardening guys and keep warm up there!

[@Bubba_fett]

I use building lumber in mine, same as logs, just dryer. I only use pine. I have some maple logs, but they are a little large to use.

[@scottmiller1916]

Thank you so much for digging up your living soil, I’m about to change over to be raised beds from containers. I’ve been told the logs would deplete the Nitrogen, but your video helped me so much, I think Tuck is bummed the Summer treats are gone.

[@jenniferhunter4074]

Just remember that he's got soil on top. What you don't want to do is till in things like woodchips into the soil up high - say 3-6 inches from the top because that's where the majority of the roots are going to be. Some plants have deeper roots but not all plants have that. It's a form of hugelkulter and it's great. I do it myself because it costs money to buy the soil to fill beds up. I even do this with containers and buckets. The nitrogen depletion is happening lower in that raised bed so it won't impact your planted materials. Remember that, with watering or rain, things like fertilizer (things with NPK) are also moving down. You're going to get depletion which is why, in your garden, you have to amend with things like fertilizer or compost or chop and drop or something like that to refill the nutrients in your container.

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

So long as you are not trying to decompose the wood in the root zone of your plants, there will be no problems.

[@Estertje93]

I found the beds with logs are fine but the bed I filled with woodchips + a foot of soil have nitrogen issues. I'm guessing it's the surface area of the woodchips that cause the issue.

[@jenniferhunter4074]

@@Estertje93 I used split logs in my raised beds. I had about 18 inches of soil. I grow things like tomatoes and those roots go down. For my grow bags and assorted buckets, I use about 2-3 inches of woodchips at the bottom and then, soil to the top with a final mulch of shredded leaves. I tried woodchip mulch but it was a mess to clear and then, amend the beds. I'm not sure if others are doing this, but the wood that I put in my raised beds or the chips are not fresh. 1. I'm paranoid. So I have a quarantine zone. I give it about a year so that any pesticide/herbicide has a chance of decaying. In addition, I can monitor for unfriendlies and deal with them. 2. I prefer aged chips and logs that have experienced at least 6 months of decay.. I will throw coffee grounds and suspect lawn clippings or throw things watered down compost tea sorts of things onto those logs and chips without fail. *suspect lawn clippings. the stuff that grows near the street where I can't adequately protect from town residue.. think of the stuff that cars transport via their wheels. For me, I'm paranoid. That's the danger zone. Just a reminder.. get a soil test. Instead of guessing if it's a nitrogen issue, spend less than a hundred dollars and know what you need to do. It may be something entirely different... say bad compost that had something like grazon in it.

[@Estertje93]

​@@jenniferhunter4074thanks for the elaborate reply! Thankfully I haven't had issues with herbicides... I had 3 raised beds, 2 filled halfway with logs and 1 with fresh woodchip. Then 1 foot of soil and then a mulch of compost. The soil and compost were from the same source, that's why I suspect the woodchip to be the problem. For 2 seasons in a row I've had issues in that particular bed. I now amend with sheep's wool/manure pallets and it seems to work. I grew carrots in there now since they don't need so much nitrogen and that has been fine as well.

[@samueleb4826]

7:19 Mah i tried cutting the grass and using it directy in march .... i used , wood first layer a lots of green grass layer and a lot of soil (was sandy btw) ....in march days are not so hot and the heat has helped the plants , and i produced a lots of vegetable maybe with normal soil it could be a problem but with sandy soil everything was nice.

[@nancycongiusti7526]

Thanx for showing the logs breaking g down. I just starting several new metal raised beds and have put logs and sticks inside. It's nice to know i did it right!! THANK YOU 🎉

[@marcfruchtman9473]

Thanks for the many gardening tips. It's good to know that it is the anaerobic soil that the roots avoid because the low oxygen kills them.

[@pinksky1467]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤hearts for Tucker. Love the tree behind you. So vibrant and beautiful. That is a treasure chest of gold!! Just what the plants wanted. The back to eden concept seems to be the best one yet. So keep doing what God created and you will thrive in your crops.

[@debichats8634]

You’re a genius! Going to try this very soon!!! What I’d give to have the amount of crops you get! I am old…..but I really want to do this!!!! Thank you James and lots of love to Tuck!!!!! Love that little guy! My chihuahua is 14….she’s my baby and don’t want to ever be without her! She’s my garden baby!!!

[@donaldduck830]

Nothing new here. He even makes a bad mistake around minute 7:00 . The correct way to fill a raised garden bed is to have big logs, small sticks, then a layer of compost, leaves, or grass (not cuttings but sods) to prevent the soil you put on top fall through into the holes between the sticks, etc., cause then you will have an anaerobic & sour environment. Also if you put some ripe compost in, you have an excellent start on soil life. So I put a layer of that and only then the soil on top

[@debichats8634]

@@donaldduck830 So, you think James makes mistakes…..they WHYINHELL do you keep watching him and complaining? Go to someone YOU think is perfect! Do you get the yield James does? Just go away!!! James is incredible….you? Not so much…..

[@gushutchinson8758]

I cut down all the sycamores dominating a London garden I put them into several cubic metre habitat stacks but when it came to double digging the wide curving beds I had the bright idea to put them in the base of these new beds, that was in the 90s ,I've been doing it ever since, even in Lanzarote where it's all poor dry soils. I've had little opportunity to dig deep and see exactly what happened to properly evaluate like you did here, but it has always felt right,more sensible than dumping it,burning it or even stacking above ground if exotic sycamore, I prefer to convince a client they need a log bank or stumpery and buy in a load of big native logs in the UK ash,oak hornbeam,Birch etc in Lanzarote I got whole canary palm and tamarisks from local dumps,sad that people illegally uproot 300year old palms but I used them as path revetments on slopes,extremely heavy things but too beautiful to waste, look great with palm seedlings germinating all around them, the tamarisks,often dumped by the council on their endless road widening schemes are like willows in that when buried in long trenches most of it sprouts to form a beautiful fast hedge, despite a lot of it being mangled by the heavy machines used to dig up these roadside hedges generally speaking I always educate clients to keep all the bigger limbs and trunks cut down onsite as well as anything under 2cms in the traditional compost heap anything bigger use as a coarsely chopped mulch, or bury it in the beds or can they make a useful attractive dead hedge like a hazel or willow hurdle, a living tunnel,a structure for a rustic rose arch over a path or seat, a support for annual climbers or crops like beans,peas etc ,I've used brash to make cosy hedgehog hibernation areas with evergreen honeysuckle or ivy allowed to scramble, or like you put them in the lower half of raised beds, I think the trick is to use your imagination for any excuse to keep the dead stuff on site and stop seeing it as a waste problem but a valuable resource, 2 more suggestions for people with enough land a petrol chipper that takes up to 3 inch diameter branches is excellent for less scruffy mulches and composting the bigger woody stuff, this can be laid down 6 inches or more for cut and fill or edged with staked planks (I use hinges to join the ends and stop the dreaded drifting apart) this makes lovely springy woodland weedfree paths that can be topped up over the years or treat them as a horizontal composting system to be dug out on a rotation as and when a new lot of chipped wood is available, note: in many areas tree surgeons have to pay to dump their chipped wood and so will be happy to dump it where it will be quickly moved off the street. One final thought,sorry ,2! There's a recommended method to create the ideal habitat for the greater and lesser stag beetle, the larvae spend years munching through dead wood half a metre above and below ground level and logs a minimum 8inch diameter .. this is particularly relevant to the inner and greater London area where these big beautiful but endangered stag beetles have their natural distribution...we Londoners can all help them . One last thing...columbo of the Saprocylics....there's the incredible art of ANDY GOLDSWORTHY who makes all sorts of permanent and ephemeral "land art". some of his works could be used as inspiration for using dead wood in our own gardens .. I especially want to have a shot at the branches arranged into a perfect circle you could walk through . Here's wishing happy days repurposing your cut wood , try keeping it in on or under your garden Happy days !!!

[@kittyskid1]

epic gardening did this also. glad to know this method works. thanks so much for giving the tip on already rottening logs. I love show and tells like this.

[@kazparzyxzpenualt8111]

This is the best follow up for this method. It proves so much about what has been said about doing this and the benefits. I like the water battery description. Your 3 year inspection was very interesting. This is good to know. It makes one wonder about whether revamping a raised bed has a suggested schedual. While if you left it alone perhaps another year or two might reveal even more interesting details, this looks like proof positive to me that all the suggestions to do this are more than correct for all the reasons! Thank you!

[@jefschobert9765]

Buried old wood pieces, compost, sawdust into the raised beds did good and two years later I found the trees in others yards crept into my yard and broke through my raised beds seeking water. Dug them up redid landscaping materials on bottom and just put the soil back.

[@stefanomoretti3664]

I had a prune tree that never gave fruit over 10 years time. Quite frustrating. Then I built two raised beds to the sides of is, so to have partial shade in summer (Mediterranean summer). The tree really enjoyed the treat and started producing wildly. Now speak about "stacking of functions" (Permaculture concept).

[@daisymay4183]

I just love your channel and everything i learn from it. Thank you. Tuck is adorable with the little ear up in the air while sleeping. Too cute😊

[@marajacobs-proctor200]

I followed your suggestion with my raised bed this past summer. It did well. I was wondering what would happen to the logs so it was good to see you dig them up! Gives us a good idea of what to expect.😊

[@pamelawalker8052]

Goodness!!, Look at tuck, such a sweetie. James, you have the best channel ever. I bought an acre 6 years ago. Found your channel and your enthusiasm towards growing a food forest inspired me. Planted 11 fruit trees, have grapes also. This year I plant berries as they are my favorite. Garden is expanding ever year. Living in Canada the season is shorter, but after watching your channel. A garden challenge is a good challenge. Keep up the good videos. Best ever, thank you James

[@radrickdavis]

Wish I could show you my front yard. After we cut an invasive Sumac tree last year, the log sized roots covered in wood chips are now fully colonized by fungus. I knew something interesting was happening, because the stump had attracted so many ants, then it smelled funky for a few months. Now the soil is a living food web factory, and my strawberry patch is booming around the stump.

[@ILoveJesus777-]

I love that cute little ear of Tuck's just sticking straight up while he's napping!😁

[@brigidlaffey7343]

And keeping an ear on the situation 😊

[@jasonellis7856]

We use banana tree trimming and logs of the ones that have already grown bananas from and stick 2-3 in an 80cm pots, works a treat. They are after all just columns of liquid already.

[@euniceolson1333]

❤❤❤❤ hooray Tuck, what a cute little guy!

[@colinjohnston9824]

It is incredible to see you growing along with your garden! Such an inspiring journey!

[@judylee1860]

I did that back when you did it. Im glad you have done this follow up. ❤ Tuck ❤

[@svetlanapil8089]

I used hugelkulture to grow soil from scratch. When we moved to a new town I discovered that we only have river rocks and about an inch of top soil. So we dug trenches with ecscavator and I filled it in with all kinds of organic debris collected all over the area. That was three years ago. It helped that despite living in dry Colorado, one summer we've had lots of rain. This spring I dug the top layer up since the hill itself fell apart. I discovered that now I have several feet deep of rich soil!

[@richjageman3976]

I tried old semi rotted hardwood on the bottom with loads of leaves and cut grass topped with my neighbor's year old "used up" potting soil at the end of his gardening for the year and the following spring and summer my garden outproduced his that he put all new potting soil he bought from a big box store.

[@mikeschaoticgardening]

i did the logs in my raised beds and put wood chips bottom my grow bags and it definitely helps retain moisture and saved money on filling the bags with all soil!

[@kreynolds1123]

The logs are like sponges. Plants with deep roots can access the soil next to the logs. But because of capillary action through the soil, plants with short roots can be well supplied with water that they take up to their leaves.

[@notyouraveragejojo736]

I love to see Tuck .. he is such a cutie. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge. I will be making my first ever raised bed in thw spring and really learning from you.

[@pansyvaughan5624]

James I did this method this spring in my raised bed, absolutely love it, the soil sank alot so next spring I have to fill it more but loved the results in growing peas on trellis, then carrots, spinach, in front Second planting of all those for fall was incredible..

[@khills1181]

Wow this is amazing!!! Never heard of this technique but I’m gonna do it!! Thanks for sharing!!

[@4thdimensionalexplorer]

On the family farm they built a belt around the property doingnthis as a long series of mounds. Every year you would dig a long pit somewhere useful or at least that you dont mind it. Then go around the old mounds triming and felling trees to chop into different sizes and put into the mounds with mulch and brush. Then dig up some great compost for the gardens. Must have taken years to get it going.

[@rwieging]

❤❤❤❤ I love seeing Tuck in the garden! Thanks for your positive energy James! You’re making gardening great again!

[@kalo924]

Doing a raised bed or a mound or a trench and putting logs and old rotting wood in it (obviously, no pressure treated) is the trifecta of gardening goodness: sequestering carbon, reducing the need for watering by holding water and enriching the soil. ❤

[@flamingdonut9456]

I left a longer comment about my raised beds regarding why not to use pressure treated wood. Can you explain why please? I've nine year old rotten wood I was going to use for this method. Thank you.

[@kalo924]

@@flamingdonut9456 it's poisonous

[@tomtrask_YT]

@@flamingdonut9456 "Before 2003, pressure-treated lumber was often treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a preservative containing some amount of poisonous arsenic.". Of course if you have a piece of lumber to bury in your raised bed today, it's possible it's that old. But if you're building the raised bed today, with new lumber, you can use pressure treated lumber for the bed construction.

[@a.leehilliard4716]

The chemicals in treated wood will kill you. It is poisonous. Defeats the purpose of growing your own food if you include any kind of poison in the process.

[@flamingdonut9456]

@@tomtrask_YT ah, thank you. Very interesting. The original beds were constructed in 2014, so I assume it should be alright to use, then. Thanks again.

[@samuelemeryjiujitsu]

A water battery is an interesting analogy.

[@scrapbagstudios]

It was very interesting to see how it had broken down and become a water battery. Thank you for sharing.

[@Not_So_Weird_in_Austin]

Nice to see how the hugel culture provides mycelium fungus and water storage. Great idea on the weed cloth and screening for drainage

[@ledzepcleo]

I've never watched any of your videos. It's great to hear somebody say water just like me. I'm between exits 3 and 4.

[@amandasshadow9605]

This is so cool! Over the course of 3 years, we've cut a bunch of limbs off of the parts of our neighbor's tree that overhangs our back fence. We also have branches fall in our yard on windy days. We've just been piling them up in a corner of the yard hoping to provide winter shelter for possums and other critters. We have so many that I will definitely use some for a raised bed or two! I only have one raised bed in the greehouse so far though...haha! I just started gardening in April of last year and am saving up for more raised beds...or the materials to build them. Thank you for this video! And stay safe during this crappy cold weather heading our way!

[@wpchastain]

I did this with 4 raised beds it has worked woderfully. Most folks will find, as I did, that more soil will be needed as the wood and such decays and looses volume. Just have to add more compost or garden soil to the top. No problem.

[@mrslsix]

I filled up my raised beds with logs and sticks. Thank you for proving that it works for a healthy productive garden.

[@kathyley5661]

I'm so glad I saw this vedio! We are adding more raised beds. I was going to use material from the compost pile. I think you just saved me from a huge mistake! Thank you for the great I information you share with us.

[@dharmaslife]

You for showing this! Now I know what the bottom part of my bed looks like😊 Morning Mr Tuck❤ ❤❤❤

[@zprince4120]

You should build 2 new beds exactly the same except one has charcoal in the bottom and the other with sticks and logs and grow the same things in them to see what or if they perform differently. I'm thinking that the charcoal one will have more longevity but might struggle the first year or two.

[@laddieokelley6095]

Your key information is start with logs or wood chips that are already starting to decompose. My best experience is with free coarse wood chips from my utility company--I did not use them until a full year after delivery. It does not hurt to pierce bed soil with rebar to enhance aeration. If he's not already, Tuck would become a smooch-a-pooch under my guardianship!

[@PeggyEscobar-v8j]

This was very helpful. I’ve heard of this method. It’s great to see the results. I love Tuck❤❤❤❤

[@se5594]

I did this a 3 years ago when making 12' flower beds. I just googled stuff. Used my old logs around the yard, dumped in compost, and found free dirt and topped that off with a couple bags of clearance priced store bought"good dirt/topsoil. . I watered allot that first year, last year a little less, this year i kept forgetting and everything thrived even in 100+ temps.

[@royormonde3682]

Everything looks great. I agree with the deep raised planters as a back saving option. As my age is effecting my ability to bend over and spend long periods of time on the ground I have been slowly building and installing deep planters over my grounds beds over the last 5/6 years now. I have a dozen or so done now with a bunch of half drums too from those large plastic barrels. Gonna try and build a 5 gallon bucket system for my potatoes next years, maybe bury them half way down in long trenches where I can pull buckets out and dump them into wheelbarrow, not sure about this though. If anyone has a good working system for easy harvest potatoes I'd like to hear about it....cheers and happy gardening everyone.

[@aprilbreen9207]

Cloth grow bags for potatoes, I kind of buried them in soil so they’d stay evenly moist, don’t know if they will stay strong and not deteriorate but then you can pull up the bags and harvest by dumping into a wheelbarrow

[@Sypherz]

Thanks! I am adding another large bed to my garden this year and have a huge pile of large and small branches I was going to try to burn. I think I will dig out my existing beds and put this material at the bottom, fill them back up and use the extra soil for my new bed. I am in the middle of a reset anyway since I installed a green house in the middle of my garden last fall.

[@jacobbrizammito7187]

I did this in Florida in sandy soil. After a couple years The logs remained dry and had not decomposed much. It Just got a bunch of termites. Would be different if it were not sand. Good point about not creating anaerobic conditions. Will try again covering in in clay soil.

[@frandanco6289]

Guess you did not water the area at all during those couple of years ???

[@kristinroche64]

Great video. This is how I do all of my beds.

[@catherineincanada1874]

On top of moisture retention, nutrients, etc - another benefit is the heat produced by decomposition keeps the soil warm from below, which is great for anything growing in there☺

[@smb123211]

I use all the cuttings from Spring cleaning, returning branches, leaves and limbs back to the ground. I am a cook and continually add tons of leftovers that attract worms and rich, rich soil. Great dog !

[@fletchslade5718]

Have been doing this for 6 years - turning a boring weed choked yard into multiple raised beds. I find that I need to redig every year and replace the logs and sticks as the beds are on bare ground and earthworms process the logs far faster. On the plus side, I have never bought any soil to add to these beds and now the soil in the beds is reconditioned and fantastic.

[@kathleenhunter3161]

Doing this In Arizona also helped on watering. Because of the heat and water shortage I put them in containers without a hole in the bottom. The hole was on the side about an inch above the bottom. That way the logs have time to absorb the water. And the logs become sponges for the plants. That fall the strongest. Largest and whitest roots were the ones going into the logs

[@Notmyhome-y7y]

Our little Yorkie passed a few years ago. She looked a lot like Tuck. 💞

[@texaspatty4697]

❤

[@livelifetogivelife9462]

On our farm - we have loads of invasive Chinese Tallow trees. The last few years I would say 2 to 3 hundred. SO - I’ve been cutting them down and cutting them up just for the purpose of starting a BUNCH of above ground beds with our old leaky water troughs - 2024 BEST SPRING EVER!

[@3000secrets]

I don’t add wheat cloth the bottom because I feel it’s OK for a little bit of soil to reach out that eventually makes room at the top to add fresh, compost or manure. Whatever you want to use. and in the long run it’s a good system.

[@runningwarrior5468]

Im actually watching this from New Jersey! Im from WNY and staying with family in Burlington Tomorrow I am crossing the Delaware and doing the Philadelphia Marathon! Love to TUCKIE!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤26.2 miles LETS GOOOOOOO!!!

[@JodiLangston]

I installed a new bed last fall and did this on the bottom. Fingers crossed. In my other beds I put brown and green stuff in the bottom but probably more brown than green, and it worked out fine. Tons of worms.

[@mermaidasuna4640]

I love this guy and his energy for growing food. He really inspires me. ❤

[@stringlarson1247]

I built a Hügelkultur bed many years ago and gave started a couple more with logs that I have that are not good for chopping and stacking in the shed. As they breakdown, they get quite spongy and retain excess moisture providing a great drought resistance and an environment for all the good bacteria and micro nutrients that don't exist in most farmed veg. I should add that I pulled off the top soil until I hit the clay (about 8") So, so raised bed/liner/extra work. There are many resources online where 'beds' can be 4-6' high and are great for trees and things like blueberry bushes.

[@eighthof8]

I don't subscrible often, but I subscribed to your channel. You talk much faster then those of us in the mid section of the country, and because of that, I get a lot more information in a shorter time. Thanks

[@gailzaranek6958]

My lush front garden is still enjoying the fertilization from the stumps and thick roots left after chopping down some unattractive, dying bushes after almost 20 years. This is a great idea for those who want to benefit from this natural soil assist.

[@Emily-xu6fi]

This is absolutely amazing thank you so much

[@Jordan_Makes]

I have buried my share of logs over the years. Good to know it works! Thanks James!! You’re a legend!!!

[@kenbrown438]

@James : thanks for showing us the buried logs♻️ !!!! I've always wanted to do that 😊!!!!

[@jimbox114]

We have a few acres of property so before putting up my raised gardens last year I went around and gathered as many dead/rotting logs as I could. Everything in my raised beds did amazing this season. This is a great method to save some money and enhance your raised beds. Also even when it got dry I hardly ever had to water any of it.

[@MysteriaSdrassa]

This is just a variant of Hügelkultur, Germans and other europians have been using this method of planting for 100s of years because it works so well... my grandmother taught me how when i was younger, she used the actual mound method for her tomato plants and always had the most beautiful tomatoes, i have since since started using it in what i call Hügeltubs, which are basicly just a 55 gallon food grade barrel cut in half with drainage in the bottoms, i switched to them instead of full size raised beds because they are easily moveable if needed and for just myself and partner, is plenty big to grow what we need in them

[@that_auntceleste5848]

I used this technique to fill a soaking tub we "rescued" from the alley. (Drilled a bunch of holes first off course!) This was the 3rd year, lots of food grown!

[@ogadlogadl490]

I have a plumber friend, I have 5 bathtubs 🛁 that I have turned into raised garden beds. They work great. A few I covered in my old fencing, looks rustic.😊

[@samanthahoos9827]

I did this too years ago, but didn’t dig them up. The plants I grew were strong, soil seems healthier and if I create new beds I’d do it again! 😊

[@maryfisher9888]

I buried some old firewood beneath my perennial beds for hugelkultur. But they weren’t rotten enough, or the wrong kind of wood, because when I dug it up 4 years later, they were still firm and not spongy. My garden tends to be on the moist side.

[@dakotadarling8760]

i did the exact same thing several years ago! 😊

[@Lilikoi4]

I have used this method for 3 yrs , using tropical debris & logs in Hawaii raised beds. Works so much better on water retention ; than old method of filling containers with just soil. 🤙🏽🌺🌱🌳

[@Blooable]

Something to think about for those trying this, If you grow mostly root crops make sure your bed is tall enough so that they can grow freely. I threw logs into my somewhat shallow bed to save on dirt but now can only grow above ground crops for the next few years. Which sounds fine for most but my favorite things to grow are garlic & potato's. Logs on one side stick on the other if you are new & are not sure what you want yet.

[@callikohl5698]

I used flakes of straw to line my beds at the bottom just two years ago and I dug to see what it looked like. Almost all soil and beautiful mulch down there. So I dug it all out and replaced the straw and I'm using the beautiful mulch elsewhere. ❤❤❤ for our boy Tuck, the boss.

[@ivhaywood]

Just to contribute to this, this could be considered a hugleculture: it's worth knowing that a large log might take up to 12 years to decompose, so making a lasagne of different size chunks of woody matter that get larger in size towards the bottom of the bed is the best idea. This way you will have the decomposition happening at different rates/times, thus feeding the soil throughout. Definitely don't disturb it once you've made your hugleculture, to disturb living soil will kill it. If anyone is worried about the wood absorbing any nutrients before it has started to decompose then it might be worth just letting the wood rest in a dark+wet place for a long time before putting it in there. This way the log should become fully saturated with water and will probably have naturally been inoculated with fungus, then it is ready. Happy growing

[@kathryncustadio]

I just purchased 6 30 gal grow bags and plan on using this method, i also have to change my older 5 bags to this style..i probably won't need to purchase any soil, such a great way to garden❤.. also i love seeing Tuck in your videos ❤❤

[@JulioSilva-wp4bj]

Go Tuck!!! ❤❤❤

[@ShellyMcDonnell123]

TUCK! 🥰♥♥♥

[@davemi00]

We dug up some Fir & Spruce trees to move them, at night. We noticed White Fungus that grew on the Roots, glowed luminously once it was dark outside.

[@jcoats5529]

I add lots of cardboard. Worms love it

[@kathynix6552]

Oh good I just added torn up cardboard over old logs and woodchip. The soil will be added tomorrow.

[@JayanXiao]

Al the hearts for the young king Tuck ❤️👑

[@sgrvtl7183]

Thank youfor sharing your idea with us. Your gardens are always so abundant and beautiful vegs & fruits~💚

[@kathyjacques2688]

I tried that a few years ago n when I got my lazy butt out to investigate, I was very impressed, started a whole bunch of trenches with my pruned branches instead of burning them

[@melissavisconti89]

Awww come on Tuck looks like a little stuffed animal sleeping so peacefully 🥰

[@newt52864]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@gardeningfishingjimw9364]

Hügelkultur is great James, I use it in my raised Birdie beds and have had fantastic results for the past 2 years. I use both hardwood and softwood but after all the logs, branches & twigs are in then I run with cardboard boxes opened up and the load the rest of the bed with permaculture. That makes for a really great rich soil. Love your vids too mate!! :)

[@a0flj0]

By its color, I believe your homemade soil is extremely nutrient-rich - this being the reason why everything grows that well in it. It's not just plants with long roots that benefit from the water in the logs. The water accumulated in the logs will diffuse into the soil around it, and the soil in its entirety will get moist - with more moisture deeper in the soil and nearly no water towards the top. That's ideal for plants whose roots don't go down two feet into the soil. Most garden plants want just some moisture in the soil, not muddy soil that suffocates the roots.

[@keeponshiningbrightly]

I'm a first timer at creating hugelkulture beds, so far so good although six months or so on, the level of our soil has dropped roughly about 15cm/6inches due to over time it dropping and settling in all the nooks and crannies of the logs and branches we used. I did use a high pressure garden hose on the soil as I built the bed up in the hope to move it down as thoroughly as I could into every spare space. Our beds are roughly 1 metre x 2 metres and longer.