Dalhousie University students create unique garden bed in hopes of attracting more diverse pollinators

Sustainable solution: The dirt on hugelkultur Dalhousie students have created a hugelkultur on campus – aimed at encouraging biodiversity.

HALIFAX — Dalhousie environmental students in Halifax are getting down and dirty with an exciting new project. They've created a hugelkultur bed – a raised garden bed filled with organic material that will help restore biodiversity to a section of the campus.

Samatha Ceci, masters of resource and environmental management student at Dalhousie, says one of the main benefits to a hugelkultur bed is the ability to plant in it without breaking ground.

"So it serves this great purpose where we can plant in areas that are more rocky," said Ceci.

The students' hugelkultur bed is constructed by layering organic matter, with coarse matter, including thicker branches and tree stumps, at the bottom. Towards the top of the bed, students placed more fine organic matter - in this case, leaves.

Ceci says hay or grass trimmings are also great options for the bed's top layers.

"And then we top it off with a six-inch-minimum layer of top soil to plant in in the immediate future," said Ceci.

Because of how the hugelkultur bed is constructed, Ceci said materials towards the lower portion of the bed are able to decompose over time, creating a soil horizon that will help feed whatever is planted in the bed.

The new garden bed is not only a learning opportunity for the students, but they also hope it will help enhance the different types of plants and the quantities of vegetative species in the area.

"So, for the most part we are looking at Red Oak in this area, so more of a monoculture here or single species ecosystem," explained Ceci. "But in the bed, we've got at least... five or six different types of plant species all with different heights and flowering types, so colours and the seasons that they flower. So, in doing so, we are able to attract pollinators over a longer period of time."

Kareina D'Souza, the sustainability manager at Dalhousie University, said they were excited when Ceci approached them with the idea.

"She found the funding from 'WWF: Go Wild Grants,'" explained D'Souza. "We are already starting to use it in some of our green campus tours, having people walk by, pointing out a structure like this, pointing out the benefits of having something like this on campus and then also showing the power of what a student can do."

Ceci says one of the great aspects of the hugelkultur bed is how replicable it is in different spaces.

"You can basically sub in different types of organic materials to achieve the same affect," said Ceci.