"vert20" wrote in message:
The reasons I recall are, drainage and the cascading look of the
vines flowing off the hills. The large growers of those products just
plant them in the ground (flat).
The hill look maybe attained by heaping the dirt around the bases
after the growth becomes large and before the flowers bloom, in order
to keep the vine boorers at bay.
Myself, I dig a shallow hole 3ft square about 10 in deep, mulch
around the hole. This is so that when I water I just fill the hole
with water instead of watering the areas where the plant roots are
not.

I took a 10 Gallon plastic planter and filled it with a mixture of dirt and
garden soil/ compost then turned it upside down leaving a melon hill that
resembled
a smaller version of the "devils tower"

The dimensions are roughly 17.5" tall 14.5" across at the base and 12.5"
across at the top. Fact is the vines are growing slowly and the some leaves
are brown and sunburned so I assume the water is evaporating too quickly.

I also planted a group of pumpkins on flat patch and the leaves are growing
big green and lush. Next time I will make these melon hills more wide and
squat .

Thanks for info!