Having been a guerrilla grower since the early 80s , I have tried many things and narrowed it down to the best way ( for my area at least) . As was mentioned , swamps work really well . No worries on watering . Simply find nice mounds of higher land within the swamp and plant on the south side , not directly on the very top . Try to find mounds that have some alder or small tree growth as it helps to hide the plants .
For soil I usually use a mix of aged chicken manure , compost , worm castings , vercilimite , etc all mixed and put into small burlap bags . Can either dig a hole and add the soil or plop the bag down , cut and "x" into the top , and put the plant right into it . The bag blends in with the surroundings and will decompose over time to leave no trace .
DON'T trim a bunch of tree limbs to "get more sun" . Fresh cut limbs can be seen from a good distance and is a red flag to anyone that wanders into the area . If a branch or two gets into my way I simply break it to hang , but leave it . We have ice storms here that cause damage like that so it seems normal .
One thing that new growers tend to do that causes them trouble is to go out in the spring and find their spots to plant . The problem with that is you are only seeing what the area looks like without a summers growth , as well as the spring runoff of winter . Best time to scout for spots is mid/late summer for the next season . Then a recheck in the fall to see if the area is visited by hunters .
Sounds funny but I will actually bring a small fold up shovel some times and dig up some of the soil and bring it home . I try out a tomato plant or something similar in the soil to see how good it is . You would be amazed at how good some soils are and how bad others are . And it is not a happy thing to find out AFTER you have put your plants in .
