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Extend the growing season, conserve moisture and recycle twigs, branches and logs into a raised bed of rich garden soil with hugelkulture.
This unique gardening technique has been practiced in Germany and Eastern Europe for hundreds of years.
Start your garden in a sunny or shady location, depending on the plants you want to grow. You can create your hugelkulture garden on the soil surface or start it in a trench. The lowest level consists of larger branches and logs. Avoid cedar and black locust that break down slowly and black walnut that can be toxic to plants.
Cover this layer with nitrogen rich materials like plant based kitchen scraps, herbicide free grass clippings and aged manure. Cover this with compost and top it off with topsoil.
You can plant immediately or allow it to settle for several months. Research shows the plants can absorb the needed nutrients.
A bit more information: No branches and rotted logs available? Consider lasagna gardening. This is another form of gardening that creates garden beds with a modified form of sheet composting. Place a layer of cardboard or newspaper over the soil, top with 8 to 10 inches of garden debris, top with compost and fertilizer and repeat until the bed is 24” high.
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