Gardener Holly (@SustainableHolly) recently shared some of their favorite ways to tamp down weeds while growing their own food.
The scoop
“My top two ground covers smother out weeds and grow a whole lot of food,” Holly said at the beginning of the video.
Holly’s favorite ground covers are warrigal greens and sweet potatoes. They like warrigal greens as a spinach substitute and appreciate their ability to survive summer heat, unlike many spinach varieties. They’re also keen on how these plants provide valuable habitat for wildlife.
In a separate video, Holly ran through a batch of other edible ground cover plants they enjoy, including nasturtium, sweet violet, strawberry, chamomile, rosemary, purslane, and red clover. Other gardeners have used thyme as a full-blown lawn replacement.
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How it’s helping
Growing your own food can save you a few bucks at the grocery store. While it would take quite the operation to be fully self-sufficient, the extra supply helps build resilience and food independence. Gardening is great exercise too.
Ground cover is a solid way to promote local soil health. By blanketing the soil, it leaves little room for weeds to take over, meaning gardeners can avoid resorting to harmful pesticides or back-breaking labor to keep weeds in check. Ground cover also preserves soil moisture, which can be challenging in hot climates. With deep enough root systems, ground cover plants can help break up and aerate compacted soil. This helps with nutrient uptake into plants.
As Holly mentioned, ground cover also helps the ecosystem by providing a home for beneficial insects.
What everyone’s saying
YouTube viewers had a few other tips to add to Holly’s suggestions.
“Actually Warrigal Greens can thrive in winter too,” said one community member. “Have some in the back taking over, they’re feisty pluck a few leaves and more runners will grow I eat em, and burry the leaves beside other plants as fertilizer. They’re easy to find along the beach or river.”
“I have kumara holly in Perth… but not yet Nz spinach,” said another.
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“Warrigal Greens are the closest in flavour to spinach so l like to grow them,” agreed another viewer.
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