A hugelkultur bed is a raised mound built over buried wood. The wood core holds water like a sponge and slowly feeds the soil as it rots, which can cut watering in dry summers. This free planner takes your mound length, width, and height. It works out total mound volume, wood core volume, and the soil and compost you need on top.
What this tool does
This free hugelkultur bed planner runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server, and nothing is stored online. You open the page, enter your own measurements, and the plan appears at once, with a simple drawing of the layout below the result. You can try again as often as you like, which makes it easy to test a bigger or smaller layout before you buy soil, pots, or timber. A short plan like this beats guessing, because a garden built on guesses often wastes space, water, and plants in the first season.
How to use it
Start by measuring the real space you have, not a rough guess: length, width, and height in the same units. Enter those numbers in order, then press the calculate button and read every result line, not just the total. If a line looks wrong, change one input at a time and run the tool again, so you can see exactly which input moved the result. Check the drawing too, because it shows whether the layout fits the space you measured. Save or copy the final numbers before you shop, while they are fresh.
Reading your result
The result lines break the plan into parts, so you can check each part against your space and your budget. A total alone rarely tells the full story, but a total built from visible parts does. If a result surprises you, trust the maths first and check your inputs second: most garden surprises come from a mistyped number, mixed units, or a measurement taken from the wrong side of a bed or sill. Fix the input, not the plan, and run it again.
Worked example
Try a bed 3 metres long, 1.2 metres wide, and 0.9 metres high. The mound volume is 3 times 1.2 times 0.9, which is 3.24 cubic metres. The wood core, at about 60 percent, is 1.94 cubic metres. The soil and compost on top, at about 40 percent, is 1.30 cubic metres. Ordering those two loads separately avoids a short delivery.
Why this matters for a gardener
Mound planning matters because a hugel bed settles in its first year. The wood sinks as it rots, so the top drops and needs topping up. A volume plan tells you how much wood to gather and how much soil to order, which stops a half-built mound sitting through winter. In later years the bed needs less water, which is the main reward for the heavy first build.
Gardening tips
Use well-rotted wood where you can, and avoid treated timber or walnut. Soak the wood well as you build, and pack soil into gaps so roots find moisture. Plant shallow crops in year one, and deeper crops later as the mound settles. Top up the soil each spring until the height holds steady.
Common questions
Is this tool really free? Yes. It runs in your browser, needs no account, and has no sign-up step. You can use it as often as you like, for as many garden plans as you like.
Is the result exact for my garden? No. It is a planning estimate from the numbers you enter. Sun, wind, drainage, and local frost dates also affect real results, so check those on site before you build or plant.
Who is it made for? Home gardeners, balcony growers, and small-space growers who want a clear plan before they spend money on soil, pots, or timber.
Spanish version: Planificador de Bancal Hugelkultur Para Quien Empieza