Gardening can be many things: fun, rewarding, educational, and sometimes frustrating. Easy, it is not. If your soil is anything like mine, digging up plots of the earth means hitting rocks and roots. Then, more rocks followed by more rocks. Even with cultivators and rototillers, digging can still be quite daunting. Mound gardening is the perfect solution to a variety of soil quality problems. Its simplicity makes it suitable for any skill level. With little effort, you can produce abundant vegetables without the hard labor often associated with traditional gardening.
Growing in mounds (or hilling) is not a new practice. When European settlers arrived in the New World, they found Indigenous growers cultivating their land using this mound-gardening technique. For centuries many tribes had been interplanting the much-studied “Three Sisters” this way. This trio of corn, beans, and squash flourished together, sustaining their people by providing a relatively nutritious diet from this combination planting. The corn, which offers support to the beans, was planted first. As the small seedlings grew, the farmers returned to hill soil around the plants, eventually creating a mound one foot high by two feet wide. The mounds were arranged in rows about two feet apart. A couple of weeks later, the beans were planted in the same hills contributing nitrogen to the soil. Between the rows, farmers planted low-growing crops such as pumpkins or squash whose leaves shaded the ground, conserving moisture and hindering weed growth.
Mound gardening is, as it sounds, literally growing in a pile of soil. The mound creates a small-scale raised bed for cultivating plants and seeds. It’s especially good for root crops requiring loose soil and space below ground. For those with small gardens, it’s a great way to optimize space. And in areas with poorly draining soil, the mound can provide better water removal than traditional planting because excess moisture drains quickly. Amending the soil in the mound with compost will enhance its quality and aid with drainage.
Create hills in mounds or rows. Start with a layer of newspaper or cardboard to act as a weed barrier, then take several shovels of quality garden soil and form a mound. Mix in a generous amount of compost or well-rotted manure. Plant your seeds or seedlings, and water well. To hill rows, shovel four to six inches of soil in a row the length you desire. Use a hoe to smooth the row and dig a furrow. Mounds tend to dry out faster than a traditional garden bed, so frequently checking your plants is good practice. Using a natural mulch such as chopped, dried leaves or straw can help keep moisture in and keep weeding to a minimum.
A wide variety of crops can be grown in mounds. In addition to the corn, beans, and squash mentioned earlier, plant root vegetables such as potatoes, beets, turnips, radishes, and carrots, as well as cucumbers and melons
Another old-world mounding technique gaining popularity is the hugelkultur, pronounced hoo-gul-culture. Originating in Germany but practiced throughout Eastern Europe, the word means “hill culture.” This gardening method creates a raised hill from rotting logs and plant debris topped with compost and soil. This produces a rich, fertile environment into which plants or seeds can be sown. Since the mound generates nutrients and holds moisture, it’s a low-effort, effective, sustainable gardening method. These mounds usually begin five to six feet in height. Then as the wood decomposes, it settles down to about two feet after several years.
Mound gardening is easy and economical. It’s a raised bed without a bed. It’s suitable for novice and experienced growers and a great way to introduce children to growing their food. Even those with little time and little space can grow vegetables this summer.
Rose King is a Penn State Extension Master Gardener from Columbia County.
