Taking care of a mound

Mounds need to be watered like every other garden bed. By starting to water at the top, you will not waste water. Do not water hastily, that is, with too much water pressure, to avoid erosion or seeds being washed away. Planting on terrasses and mounding the soil around the stem of your growing plants will ensure that the water you add to the soil will reach the roots of your plants.

Adding organic material to the soil, pulling weeds and loosening up the soil periodically will help your plants to grow well too, of course. Once your top plant grows high enough, make sure to stake it well.

Despite well planned companion planting, you might still encounter bugs and critter problems along the way. If the summer is a wet summer, you might have to deal with slugs, for example. An easy and organic way of dealing with slugs is to edge your mound with crushed eggshell. Slugs cannot crawl over the sharp edges of crushed eggshell without hurting themselves, so they stay away from your mound. In contrast to an ordinary garden bed though, you have a much easier time with the eggshell since, if you protect the outer circle well, slugs will leave your whole mound in peace. Besides, the white rim around the mound adds beauty to your mound. Just make sure that you have enough crushed eggshell to renew the layer frequently, that is, at the latest after every rain.

Simple Living at Joshuah's House

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What to plant

The general idea is to plant the lowest growing variety at the bottom and the highest at the top of the mound. The outer circle of a mound might very well consist of a vining variety like cucumber or cantaloupe, followed by a low growing kind of marigolds in the next circle. The following circle could be a medium hight vegetable like peppers or eggplant, with the top of the mound being reserved for pole beans or tomatoes, for example. Make sure to use a companion planting chart to decide which vegetable should go where, so that your plants don't stunt each other's growth, and so that you can fight bugs and critters best.

Make sure to leave enough space between your plants, like you would in any other garden bed, so that your plants have enough room to grow and bear fruit. If you plant early varieties like spinach, leave enough seed for a second crop after the first is harvested. This way, your edible landscape will be provide you with fresh produce for a long time.

Simple Living at Joshuah's House

Technorati Tags: mound gardening, companion planting, stunted growth, critters