Hello! Thank you for including me in your community! We have finally moved onto some
land, and that land includes some wonkey hugulkutr beds. We are excited to say the least, but a little confused. Our beds are 3 years old, six feet high, and, according to concerned neighbors, primarily composed of 3-4' diameter downed cottonwood trunks. They are covered in invasive tansy and form a ring around an area approximately 5000sf, rough estimate, with a center area left flat. There are two living
apple trees in the mix, couched on the NE of the enormous mounds, but they are currently buried under 4' of snow. I liberated their whiplike branches today. They are young, they will recover. But the mounds! They are so tall! 10' tall with the snow. Of
course it will melt, but then we will have the tansy to deal with. North Idaho. Spring is going to get going in May. I'm thinking sheet
mulch with
cardboard or
chicken straw or both, and planting a few things in holes here or there. The neighbors (their combined wisdom spans centuries) are in favor of razing the beds with a
tractor and tilling, but I want to give it a go. I'm just wondering what to do--they are so tall. The north side... Of course up here the sun is very high during the growing season. I'm aware of the need for a
greenhouse but that will not be ready in time, so I'd like to focus on a few perennials and a weed-elimination project this year, and maybe a cover crop if all goes well, in the fall. Do I have that right? This is my first large garden. We have poor soil which is sandy and well-washed, as we are by a river-wetlands. My main question is, Is Six Feet Too High? They are like little alpine spires in my flat riparian woodlands
yard. Any advice or encouragement welcome. Will post updates as they are available--right now we are trying to afford a truck so we can get more organic matter in a
compost bin. All we have right now is
chicken manure and straw, and in the spring unlimited amounts of swamp grass and logging slash.