Earl Slatter

We put in a series of fruit trees a couple years ago as part of a large hugel. I found a group of urban permaculturalists (I believe in Philly, trying to find their website right now) who had made low-lying hugels in an 'O', with the tree planted in the middle of the 'O'. This was entirely covered up with soil. We incorporated  this design for group of 5 dwarf trees. So far they are doing very well.

Edit: This looks like the site

I should note that all the wood used was in an intermediate state of rot from being in a woodpile for a few years. None of it was anywhere close to being fresh cut.

This plant has recently made its way into Eastern Wisconsin, and folks are understandably concerned. The USDA maps have not been updated yet, and I'm not sure if it was a localized problem or if it has spread further into the state.

One thing to keep in mind with a plant as dangerous as Giant Hogweed is that not dealing with it could open one up to a legal liability risk as this stuff makes a real bad Poison Ivy infection seem like a cakewalk.