I am also very much into frugal and sustainable gardening practices and grow my own resources wherever possible. We have a lot of palms in our garden and I use secateurs to snip off the fronds down the spine and chop these up for mulch as they break down quite slowly and allow water to drain through (so no waste!)

Then I cut the hardest part of the palm spine into useful lengths (I make a ‘v’ shaped spike at the base of the palm stem with the secateurs so the repurposed palm branch ‘stake’ sits firmly in the soil). I find they last quite well (especially if not exposed to heavy rain which tends to break them down more quickly). They are a totally free resource from my own backyard and especially useful for the edible micro gardens I plant. I often use them in a cross ‘X’ shape with one behind the other to support cuttings and small climbing plants. By the time they have broken down, another palm frond has fallen and they can be replaced with little effort for me! By then, they’ve done their job and it hasn’t cost me a cent.

Sticking to the ‘No Waste’ Permaculture principle, the large wide base where the palm frond attaches to the trunk is also useful for habitat! When cut, we use them as a temporary bird bath – if placed up the right way it catches rainwater and acts as a natural water source for garden birds, lizards and other animals. Water also attracts dragonflies into your garden who are wonderful beneficial insects to have on your team!

Hope this helps,
Happy gardening!
Anne

I’m just getting accustomed to MyFolia’s interface… I’m going to try to upload a photo of my palm fronds for folks who might have trouble envisioning them from my text description.

Aha… I think I’ve got the photo upload to work, and the photo is even right side up now! :-)

Love the idea of the palm ‘broom’! Thanks for the photos too – great to swap ideas.

Having rented myself, I used to look for ways to grow food without having to make too much work for myself when it came time to move. I made tepees and trellises that I could pick up and take with me when I left but make the most of the vertical space while I could. Also used portable trolleys (just plastic frames on castors for a few dollars) so I could put my pots on these and have “Meals on Wheels” (see the photo). It also enabled me to move them around in/out of the sun depending on their requirements and the weather. Very handy when we had storms as I could protect them by bringing them in under the verandah. Hanging baskets were also useful – another ‘pick up and go’ garden.

I am also writing an article for my blog at the moment for a Frugal Gardening series on ‘growing our own resources’ so you may want to keep an eye out for that one too as I’m trying to write a list of ideas of ways to save money in the garden using what’s already there.

Keep your ideas coming! All the best with your garden projects. :)

Well I’ve used the semi dried stringy bits (fronds?) as stake ties when I couldn’t find any… worked a treat for me. Lasted until I took them off and didn’t damage the stem at all. So I guess it could be a complete system? Interesting!