hugelkultur in central NC

Hello all, I am brainstorming for my first hugelkultur mound and I have kind of a dumb question about it...please excuse my ignorance!!

I have no clue about ideal placement of plants on the hugel mound or which plants may grow well in/on it.

I am interested in growing fruit and nut trees, berry bushes/vines, annual crops, etc but, again, I don't know how I can/should apply those to the mound

I'm looking forward to hear some thoughts about it! Thanks

Minka Bug wrote:Hello all, I am brainstorming for my first hugelkultur mound and I have kind of a dumb question about it...please excuse my ignorance!!

I have no clue about ideal placement of plants on the hugel mound or which plants may grow well in/on it.

I am interested in growing fruit and nut trees, berry bushes/vines, annual crops, etc but, again, I don't know how I can/should apply those to the mound

I'm looking forward to hear some thoughts about it! Thanks

there are no dumb questions here I am bumping this up to try for some input for you.

Minka Bug wrote:Hello all, I am brainstorming for my first hugelkultur mound and I have kind of a dumb question about it...please excuse my ignorance!!

I have no clue about ideal placement of plants on the hugel mound or which plants may grow well in/on it.

I am interested in growing fruit and nut trees, berry bushes/vines, annual crops, etc but, again, I don't know how I can/should apply those to the mound

I'm looking forward to hear some thoughts about it! Thanks

Fruit and Nut Trees would do best planted near the base (not actually on the mound but near it).

Berry bushes will do very well planted on the base and up to the top of the mound, I would not plant bushes up on a mound unless it was build with enough material in each "loose Layer" to completely fill the voids, the reason for this statement is any mound will settle, but one that has been completely filled will settle less and so not disrupt the delicate roots of your plantings.

Vines would probably like the sides, they would be easier to manage trained to some sort of trellis in that portion of the mound. A lot of where to plant what is dependent on how much sunlight each planting requires. I am building a new mound just for Blue Berries, it will be about 5 feet in depth front to back and run east to west on a north slope. This orientation will allow full sun for the whole day as well as act as a swale for water control on the slope, the held water will soak into the mound and keep the bushes watered in our hot summers.

I will also be building a second mound, located down slope, for grape vines, built next to the blue berry mound for the same reasons. The grape trellis will not block any sun from the blue berries that way. Below these mounds I am building growing mound swales and plan on planting fruit trees to take advantage of the lay of the slope. between these kale and other greens will be grown, straw berries will go on these growing swales.

Growing mounds are great for many types of annual crops. Potatoes do well if planted near the base, where they can spread and grow well.