I’m a gardener – here’s a lazy way to keep weeds out of your garden & grow fruit and veg for cheap
A GARDENER has revealed a lazy way to keep weeds out of your garden and grow fruit and vegetables cheaply.
Phil, also known as Earth, Nails and Tails on social media, shared a video on TikTok explaining how to use the Ruth Stout method.
He begins the video by saying: “This is how you could be a lazy and successful gardener.”
Phil continues: “Most people think that gardening takes up a lot of time and effort, but Ruth Stout developed a method that gets the garden working for you and gets amazing results.”
Ruth Stout, who was born in 1884, was the first person to write and speak about the gardening method from the 1950s to the 1970s.
She is sometimes called the “Mulch Queen”, but perpetual mulching occurs naturally in forests and wild fields.
Ruth realised that she could replace ploughing and weeding with a thick layer of mulch (hay for her) on the ground.
It focuses on soil coverage with wood chips, leaves and chopped straw.
Phil describes how potatoes are perfect for the Ruth Stout method.
He lays the starchy food down on the ground and covers them with a thin layer of straw.
As the potatoes start to grow, Phil “hills” them up with straw until the total layer of mulch is about six to eight inches deep.
And users were quick to respond to the gardening hack video, which has received more than 39,000 views and over 2,400 likes.
One said: “I tried that and my crop was devastated by mice and moles.”
Another asked: “How do keep critters from digging your potatoes up?”
A third commented: “Honestly though. We have a thick layer of mulch and I haven’t had to water any of my plants yet this year and all is thriving!”
A final person quipped: “Does the straw ever blow away on windy days?”