This is how I plant my trees

You have no vole problems with the mulch piled up right against the tree trunk?

It is only an inch or 2, but nope. So far so good.

cool - what about settling when the buried wood decays? On the hugelkultur forum, the advice is always not to plant your trees on to a hugelkultur, as it will settle over time.

Patrick Mann wrote:cool - what about settling when the buried wood decays? On the hugelkultur forum, the advice is always not to plant your trees on to a hugelkultur, as it will settle over time.

I think it would be interesting to see how detrimental (if it all) that settling would be to the trees on hugelkultur. In my case there is not enough wood to really make a difference. Most of the wood is to the sides. I leave a clear area straight below for any tap roots. So far 3 and a half years in there has been no noticeable settling.