"Life hack: always think, how is the problem the solution?" one TikToker, Mike Hoag (@transformativeadventures), quips in a video where he explains a genius method of what to do with brush piles in your yard.
The creator explains that there's an area in his garden that has lots of shade and is covered in brush and burn piles left by the previous owner. Instead of cleaning it all up by hand, which would "be a pain," he opts for an ancient gardening method: the hügelkultur. These are raised beds where you use a brush pile and put soil or compost on top.
@transformativeadventures #greenscreen #garden #gardenhacks #gardentips #Hugelkulture #homesteading ♬ 10 minutes ver beat & electric bass stride(1117152) - Aruma
"Now, in my experience, hügelkultur are kind of oversold as vegetable gardens," the creator says. "They end up with this rich, woodland soil, which isn't great for vegetables because most of our vegetable plants didn't evolve in woodlands. But, it is great for cultivating a lot of rare, native, woodland plants."
As a result, the creator decides to turn the hügelkultur into a nursery to cultivate baby native plants.
The scoop
"So I just framed all this out with some logs, [to] make it look nicer. I'm going to add some mulch on top and make it pretty, and then boom, I have a great bed for a nursery that is great for cultivating sensitive, woodland plants," he explains.
In other words, to create these layered mounds, one digs up sod, adds large logs that are decaying, fills in air gaps with composted woodchips, adds lighter wooden material, then topsoil as clarified by a blogger, Sunshine Farmer.
How it's helping
A hügelkultur is a unique but effective way to landscape one's yard. It creates an oasis for native plants to thrive. As this creator has his hügelkultur in the shade, he is opting for a nursery; however, a hügelkultur can be a worthwhile solution for any native plants. Like the benefits of native plants, they use less water, lessen the need for maintenance, and ultimately lower the cost and time spent on landscaping their garden.
The natural way of gardening further creates a healthier ecosystem within your yard, which supports pollinators and the rest of the ecosystem.
What everyone's saying
Users were thrilled by such a distinctive gardening method.
"I've found hugels can have a good but small veggie window, but their best use is definitely perennials," wrote one commenter. "Great advice."
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Every day 🥗 Another found the video at a perfect time. "I was just thinking about how I'm not sure what to do with the back of our property that is very shady and has lots of old logs/brush. Thank you Mike and algorithm," they said.
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