The Impact of HÜGelkultur Gardening on Ecosystem and Soil Acidity

Abstract

Hügelkultur gardening is a method that can reuse garbage, such as litter and compost. This kind of reuse brings some benefits: more microorganisms and more nutrients like nitrogen are produced by decomposing. This gardening method did help the environment by decreasing the amount of fertilizers that could harm the ecosystem. However, its potential drawback is that this could increase the acidity in the soil which could negatively impact the environment. For example, from the large activity of microorganisms and their decomposed products, the increase of H⁺ ions from nitrification can decrease the soil’s pH value. At the same time, the dissolution of CO₂ made by microbial activities produces H₂CO₃, which also reduces the pH level inside the soil. Those characteristics from Hügelkultur gardening unfortunately make the soil more acidic, which could harm the growth of the plant. Therefore, it is practical to propose that people should add egg shells to their composts when using gardening strategies like Hügelkultur, to utilize its alkaline properties for neutralizing the acidity in the soil.