A keyhole garden is a round raised garden bed about 6-10′ in diameter and up to 3′ high. An opening shaped like a pie slice is cut out of one side so that the gardener can walk into the space without stepping into the garden and have access to tend the entire bed. A round, 1-2′ in diameter wire cylinder forms a compost basket in the center. The basket is filled with compost ingredients and watered throughout the growing season making the best use of water and fertilizer on-site.
The garden bed is usually lined with cardboard and filled with compostable materials including cardboard, newspaper, soil, food scraps, phone books, compost, coffee grounds even old cotton clothes. Top with soil and mound it higher in the center and lower toward the outer edge. This allows for more planting space and easier access to the planting area.
The mynjgarden.com keyhole garden is also a Hugulkultur bed as more than 6 large 5 year old tree stumps are buried inside.
Keyhole gardens are being used in Africa to teach self sufficiency to native people who have to deal with lack of rain and poor soil. This front yard was covered in landscape stone a short time ago, then covered again with poor clay subsoil and tightly compacted by heavy construction machinery. This space also enjoys the best, full sun, exposure on my lot.
The keyhole is a great solution and allows me to densely plant the area without having to deal with, or struggle to improve, the native soil!
View Posts About Our Keyhole Garden Below
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Late Spring Garden Progress
I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not even June yet. It seems like the growing season started so early this year. I took some pictures around the yard so see how things are growing so far. Yesterday I removed the 2 volunteer squash I had growing in the keyhole garden. It was an…
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Getting Busy in the Keyhole Garden
It doesn’t look like there is much planted in there now, but those tiny plants are going to fill in all that space real soon. I’ve planted various kinds of peppers, nasturtiums, cabbage, escarole, strawberry spinach, kohlrabi, radishes and a couple of marigolds in the keyhole this spring. I’ve already got a volunteer squash or…
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Solar Frog Puddle and Planting Cucumbers
It’s over 80* out in New Jersey today and tomorrow. I put the sprinklers on for the first time today. Though it will get colder near the end of the week, I am taking the chance and planting cucumber seeds today. My friend Angela came over for coffee and I coaxed her out to the…
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Newspaper Pots, More Hugulkultur and What’s Growing Now
Here’s a peek inside my greenhouse so you can see the newspaper pots! I followed this tutorial on youtube, but instead of a soup can, which turned out to be pretty big, I used a spray oil can which is concave on the bottom and let me tuck the bottoms of the pots up against…
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Starting seeds for 2012
[su_row][su_column size=”3/5″ center=”no” class=””] I started my first seeds of 2012 tonight in my aerogarden garden starter tray. I few golden acre and flat Dutch cabbages, a few snowball cauliflower and some giant escarole. This week I will make some newspaper pots and start some more cold weather seeds in the unheated greenhouse in the…
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Fall Lettuce is Amazing
I planted lettuce hoping for a harvest before life at the Jersey Shore got too cold and froze over. Boy do I have lettuce now! When I plant it in spring it bolts so fast, but this lettuce has been going strong for weeks now. I’ve had a few salads from these beds already and,…
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Evicting the Ants and Gardening in the Fall
[su_row][su_column size=”2/3″ center=”no” class=””] The morning glories had to be taken down. The ones that ran up the flagpole began to die and look dreadful, but as I suspected, I was only able to cut and tear down as far as I could reach. I have to take down the flagpole, Captain America style, to…