Just because you're using a huge container or raised garden bed to plant crops doesn't mean you have to spend lots of money to fill it with compost and soil. A gardening expert has a way to deliver the same results without forking over a ton of cash.
The scoop
Joe Clark (@JoesGarden) shared the tip with his 1.6 million TikTok followers.
@joesgarden Today we are back and I am sharing with you the tip I use every year, which has saved me probably more money than any other in the garden. I grow nearly all of my crops, plants and flowers in raised beds and large pots, as they are ideal if you only have a small space. However, they can be super expensive to fill with soil and compost. The green raised bed in this video is amazing and I absolutely love it, but to fill from scratch with high quality compost, could easily cost over £200. This is why I use a tried and tested method called Hugelkultur. Now it's worth noting what I am doing in this video isn't the traditional way of doing it, but I've been using it for years, and it has worked very well for me. There is a lot of talk online about the issues surrounding this method, but over the last 15 years of filling my pots and raised beds like this, I've had no issues. You will find over time as the organic material starts to break down, the compost level will drop a bit, so it's a good idea to add a layer of fresh compost at the start of each growing season. Always try to make sure you have at least 25cm of good high quality soil for your plants to grow in. There are many ways to fill up your containers, and I am not saying this is the only or best way, but I've found it to be very handy over the years, and it's given me great results. Just make sure to remove any tape from your cardboard as that will not break down. I hope you are all having a lovely week, and I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚🙏 #raisedbeds #containergardening #ecotips #gardentips #zerowaste #gardening ♬ Little Things - Adrián Berenguer
Clark explained that the hack is a great way to harness the benefits of large containers and raised beds without draining your bank account.
He noted in the caption that a raised bed the size of the one in the video could set you back 200 British pounds (around $267) to fill completely with high-quality compost. Instead of spending all that money, gardeners can utilize the ancient method of hugelkultur.
It's easy and uses cheaper components to fill much of the space in containers and garden beds. To start, Joe advises lining the bottom with cardboard as a weed-blocking layer — just make sure there's no tape left attached to it.
Next, a mixture of organic materials, such as twigs and logs, goes in, with straw topping the layer. From there, you can add your compost and soil. With less space to fill, you can save lots of money along the way.
"I've been using it for years, and it has worked very well for me," Joe noted in the caption.
How it's helping
One positive of the hack is saving major money on growing your own food and cultivating your own garden. The method is also beneficial to the local ecosystem, as plants support pollinators that are crucial to maintaining the human food supply.
Ultimately, this hack makes growing your own fruits and vegetables — and tapping into gardening's positive effects on mental and physical health — more attainable.
That can allow gardeners to access tastier, healthier produce while reducing the demand for store-bought goods that lose nutrients during transportation.
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Commenters were big fans of the hack, though some struggled to think of where to get the right organic material for the layers.
A user questioned those commenters: "Do yall just like not have trees and forests?"
That provoked a back-and-forth, with users suggesting that if they were industrious, they could find fallen sticks and logs in their surrounding environments. Meanwhile, a more fortunate gardener had no trouble with their setup.
"I just started gardening and realized that the pile of dried limbs I didn't want to pay to get picked up last year, is in fact a pile of treasure," they wrote.
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