Devon, England, resident, Simon Akeroyd (@simonakeroydgardener) provided gardening tips to over 800,000 followers. In the video, he demonstrates an ancient tip from Mexico that reuses a native bloom famous for following the sun.

The scoop

If your garden has sunflowers, don't discard those stems during seasonal garden cleanup. As Simon demonstrates the method that came "courtesy of the ancient Aztecs," start by cutting stems to ripen in the sun and place them in a dry area, like a shed.

Then, next season, they can become support canes for wigwams, trellises, and new sunflowers. 

@simonakeroydgardener

Here is a fabulous sustainable gardening tip from ancient Mexico and the Aztecs. Sunflower stems are very strong. So don't throw them away when tidying up at the end of the growing season. Instead save the stems…they become woody…and use them next year to support your plants. The ancient aztecs used sunflower stems as strong canes for construction, building things and to support their plants. After a few years simply chop it up and add it to your compost heap. It's a wonderful, sustainable method of gardening. Sunflowers originate from the southern states of North America including Mexico and parts of Central America

♬ original sound - Simon Akeroyd

Keep the dried-out sunflower heads, as birds will feed on their seeds. In other words, you have a natural bird feeder in winter if you wedge the head onto old canes as Simon does in the video.

As Simon explained, the ancient Aztecs made use of these majestic flowers in construction and plant support. Now, any gardener who can grow them can do the same.

How it's helping

Sunflowers are native to the Americas, where the ancient Aztecs and Incas cultivated them for over 5,000 years. However, instead of just using them for aesthetics, they also used the flora for medicine, food, ceremonial purposes, and, as the video demo shows, structural support.

With this hack, gardeners can also repurpose this plant even when it's dying off at the end of the season. Using natural elements already on hand, like sunflower stalks instead of synthetic options, adds to your native garden's sustainability. While bamboo is also sustainable, it's an added expense with a higher carbon footprint since it mostly comes all the way from Asia.

Once the sunflower stalk wears out over time, you can still use it. "After a few years, simply chop it up and add it to your compost heap," Simon wrote. In other words, it can later help fertilize your crops.

Plus, it shows how there's still use in ancient methods, from raised garden beds to mounds known as hügelkultur.

Additionally, bird lovers can feel better in helping winged families through the scarce winter months.

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While burning calories and enjoying better mental health, gardeners learn another way to increase self-sufficiency and lower costs that a healthy garden can provide. A dried sunflower head that attracts and supports birds and other pollinators helps maintain the area's biodiversity. With this symbiotic support between gardeners and pollinators, people can grow their own food without chemicals, which reduces the demand for mass-produced and globally shipped items. 

What everyone's saying

The commenters overwhelmingly loved Simon's sunflower hack, with one saying, "Great tip," and another praising it as "brilliant."

"The birds in my neighborhood, where I live in the woods, absolutely love sunflower seeds!" one commenter exclaimed.

Another took the dried sunflower stalk hack even further. They remarked, "I do this! They make fabulous plant supports for next year! They dry super hard and strong! I built my cats a lil catio and wanted a tiki-style partial roof on it. I used cut/dried sunflower stalks for it."

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