what can one plant with hops? (herbs/spices)

[Brewer#19]

i planted two hop rhizomes last year (1 mt. hood, 1 golding) about 6 feet apart and had what i would say was great first year success (1.5 oz, 3.5 oz). so as spring is finally breaking here in buffalo, i wanted to build up my hop garden and possibly incorporate some herbs/spices with the hops.

the hops are planted on the south side of my detached garage and for the first year, i threw some mulch down in about a foot radius around the plants to cut down on the grass growth near the hops (to avoid a weed wacking error). again, this all worked well for the first year so no i'm looking to build up.

my thoughts are to build up a garden area using landscaping timbers (essentially 4x4's) and then fill will new soil. some questions i have are:
- hops being pretty robust plants, the sprouts have jumped out in the last few days, putting 4 to 6 inches of new soil on top of them isnt going to harm them correct?
- what soil is best to use, regular dirt, planters, mixed with fertilizer?
- what can one plant in the space near the hops as far as herbs/spices go (i.e. basil, rosemary, etc.)?

the last question is the one i'm most interested in. obviously the number one goal is not to harm or stunt the growth of the hops, but what if anything will either not harm or potentially even aid (nitrogen exchange) the growth of the hops? not sure if anyone one has experience with this, but figured i'd ask first, experiment second.

thanks

 

[pilotdane]

Last year I tried planting other things with (within 6') of my hops. The hops needed very regular pruning to prevent them from overgrowing everything else. I went away on vacation for a week and when I got home the hops had sent out their arms grabbed the raspberries and used them as a trellis. Same with the flowers... Anything within 3-4' of the bine was fair game. Then at the end of the season I was digging in the bed and found hops roots as far as 6' from the bine so I'd have to say anything nearby will be competing with the hops. They are a BIG plant and need space. The other plants I had close to the hops did not seem to hurt their growth but I'm certain they were competing for the same resources so this year the hops garden is for hops only.