Fill Your Garden With Free Soil Using An Old-School DIY Technique

Raised bed gardens are a great way to grow healthy plants with fewer weeds and better control over soil conditions. They create a neat, organized space that has fewer pests and is easier to maintain than traditional garden plots. However, filling a raised bed can require a significant amount of soil, especially if the bed is deep. This, along with the cost of building materials, can make raised beds more expensive to start compared to in-ground gardens. There are ways to save money during the startup process, however, such as using recycled materials to build your beds. 

When it comes to soil, there's no need to fill every square inch with pricey garden soil. You can fill up much of your raised bed's square footage for free using things around your home and yard. One technique that utilizes yard scraps like old logs and leaves is called hügelkultur, a German word that means "mound culture."

The intentional filling of your raised beds through hügelkulter can improve the water efficiency and nutrient density of your soil. Leaves, compost, and decomposing wood are all great choices for materials to use. You can even save money on landscaping fabric by using non-glossy cardboard as a weed barrier. Throwing things in your raised bed randomly, though, is not part of this technique, and it's important to know that certain materials should be avoided with hügelkultur. Nothing plastic or chemically treated should be used in your beds. 

While hügelkultur is generally practiced as an open mound, it works well in a traditional raised garden bed. Before you start filling your raised bed, you can put down a layer of cardboard as a weed barrier. Then, add large items such as logs to your raised garden bed. The next layer should consist of smaller sticks and branches, followed by yard debris like dried grass clippings and leaves, and lastly, compost and manure from farm pets like rabbits, chickens, or guinea pigs. When you've got all your layers of yard scraps in your bed, then you can add soil. Depending on the size and depth of your beds and the organic items available to you, you may have significantly reduced the cost of filling your raised beds.

If you plan on filling your garden beds using the hügelkultur method, it may be a good idea to get started in the fall. This is because you will have greater access to decaying logs from summer and fall storms, fallen leaves, and the rich end-of-the-summer organic matter from your compost pile. Throughout the season, add to the layers, and then when it's time for spring planting, you can top off your raised garden beds with some garden soil.