Gardener shares low-cost trick to transform your yard year-round: 'I'm using it this summer'

Spring is well on its way. Tulips are shooting out of frozen earth, the days are longer, and the garden is calling your name.

Plan ahead by acquiring a Mexican sunflower plant; it will save you money later. TikToker Malakai (@plantwithmalakai) shares this excellent tip for harvesting free fertilizer for your garden.

@plantwithmalakai Mexican sunflower has so many uses: In permaculture we use it for Biomass and green mulch. Its leaves are super high in Nitrogen so they break down quick, and microbes love them. 🌿 I highly recommend growing Mexican sunflower if you have a starter Food Forest, have gaps to fill in, or wish to grow your own mulch. Mexican sunflower propagates extremely easy from cuttings so once you get one plant or one cutting, you've got Mexican sunflower for life. I hope this was helpful, Happy Planting !! #foodforest #permaculture #biomass #nitrogen #mexicansunflower #chopndrop #nutrients #feedthem ♬ original sound - plantwithmalakai

The scoop

In this video, Malakai demonstrates how to cut down sections of a tall Mexican sunflower plant to "use it for biomass and green mulch."

Malakai mentions that Mexican sunflower works so well because "its leaves are super high in nitrogen, so they break down quick, and microbes love them." Using fertilizer is critical to encouraging vegetables and plants to reach their full potential, but synthetic fertilizers can wreak havoc on the environment and be dangerous for humans. 

How it's helping

Using Mexican sunflower as fertilizer can reduce or replace the fertilizer you would normally buy. Additionally, while the plants are growing, they produce large amounts of vibrant orange and crimson flowers. They also attract pollinators to your garden, which improve the health of plants, making vegetables grow larger, increasing yields, and even improving their flavor. 

In the comments, Malakai noted that you can grow Mexican sunflower from cuttings. Using cuttings, or propagating, is an easy and free way to multiply the parent plant. No buying seeds annually or germination required. "Once you get one plant or one cutting, you've got Mexican sunflower for life," Malakai added.

For thousands of years (with a recent boost during the COVID-19 pandemic), humanity has turned to gardening to survive and improve quality of life. Now, it isn't always necessary for survival, but it's still an amazing way to infuse your lifestyle with more dopamine, nutrients, and low-impact exercise. A healthy garden also improves air and soil quality, promotes biodiversity, and reduces your carbon footprint.

Spending time gardening has been shown to improve mental health by reducing stress. Getting daily access to the sun provides vitamin D, which contributes to serotonin and dopamine production. If you grow vegetables, you're also producing healthy food and saving money. Even if you live in an apartment or have a small yard, these health benefits are accessible. Flavorful vegetables with tons of nutrients can be grown on balconies, and herbs will grow prolifically in window boxes, inside or outside. Even a small yield will save you a lot of money on vegetables.

Using Mexican sunflower is just one of many easy, nontoxic ways to fertilize your garden. 

What everyone's saying

"Monarchs love our flowers!" one person wrote.

How often will you be gardening this summer? Every day 🥗 At least once a week 🥕 At least once a month 🌱 I don't garden 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"I didn't know about these plants, and we're always looking for natural mulch and fertilizer," another commenter said.

"I'm using it this summer," a gardener chimed in.

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