Pinewood School

Hugelkulture provides the inspiration for this garden where old logs hold onto moisture and provide a dilute liquid feed as they decay.  Welcome aboard the HSS Hugel-Fountain. This is an experimental design adapted from Hugelkulture, featuring a water tank filled with rotting logs to create a dilute liquid feed that is pumped directly to the plants. Cutting edge with a nautical flavour, how will she sail?

Group 3, an S2 class, had a great time looking at the principle of Hugelkulture. The group have taken over a large raised bed which continuously loses its soil and compost as it washes away or gets removed when plants are harvested. They had a large collection of decaying logs and a good understanding of the composting process and why we do it. At the same time, the class was working on a wormery, where liquid feed is produced through composting matter.

Having combined these ideas with the water theme this year, Group 3 constructed triangular water tank filled with some of their waste logs. Rather than covering them with soil, the logs will slowly decay into the water and make a dilute liquid feed for plants. 

This water is pumped with a 500lt/minute solar powered pump to circulate to the top, water the plants and back to the tank. Because this is a very wet process the pupils constructing the garden decided to grow onions and garlic as they have lots of experience growing these at school and are comfortable that they can hold up to this cycle.

This Pocket Garden is a Drought Resistant Garden. Scotland’s trend towards drier summers means that our plants may get thirsty.  Drought resistant designs look at ways to help the ground hold on to its moisture or feature plants that are adapted to tolerate periods of dry weather through deeper roots or with spiky, hairy or aromatic leaves that help the plant hold on to water. Drought resistant plant lists can be found here.