What Edible Plants to Grow for Mulch and Improve Sandy Soil

What Edible Plants to Grow for Mulch and Improve Sandy Soil

Gardening in sandy soil can be a challenge, especially in hot, dry climates. Sandy soil drains quickly, lacks nutrients, and struggles to retain moisture. However, by choosing the right plants, you can naturally improve soil health while also growing food. In this post, I’ll share five of the best plants to grow for mulch and improve sandy soil, all of which are fast-growing, drought-tolerant, and multi-functional. These plants help build organic matter, retain moisture, and create a thriving ecosystem in your garden.

Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan)

Pigeon pea is a nitrogen-fixing shrub that grows quickly and thrives in poor soil conditions. This makes it an excellent pioneer plant for mulching to improve sandy soil and support other plants in your garden.

Benefits of Pigeon Pea:

  • Fixes nitrogen, enriching the soil naturally
  • Produces edible, protein-rich peas
  • Attracts pollinators and beneficial insects
  • Provides dappled shade for smaller plants
  • Offers abundant biomass for mulch and soil improvement
  • Works as a windbreak and shelter for small birds and insects

Pigeon pea is a short-lived perennial (4-5 years) and can be used to establish a garden while building soil fertility.

Edible Canna (Canna edulis)

Edible canna is a fast-growing, low-maintenance plant that produces starchy, edible rhizomes and large leaves perfect for mulching.

Benefits of Edible Canna:

  • Edible tubers can be eaten raw, cooked, or made into crispy chips or flour
  • Young shoots can be eaten as a nutritious green vegetable
  • Dense growth provides wind protection and shade
  • Attracts pollinators with its red flowers
  • Grows well in poor soil with little water
  • Chop-and-drop plant for organic mulch
  • Helps stabilize soil and prevent erosion

Edible canna is ideal for hot, dry climates and will quickly improve the organic matter and moisture retention of sandy soil.

Banana (Musa spp.)

Bananas are one of the best plants for improving sandy soil and creating a moist, nutrient-rich microclimate.

Benefits of Bananas:

  • Fast-growing with large leaves that provide valuable shade
  • Produces nutrient-rich mulch when chopped and dropped
  • Helps retain moisture in sandy soil
  • Improves soil structure by breaking down organic matter quickly
  • Provides delicious fruit for home gardens

Bananas are heavy feeders, so they benefit from compost, manure, or worm castings. Plant them in groups to create a thriving, moisture-rich ecosystem.

Feijoa (Acca sellowiana)

Feijoa, also known as pineapple guava, is a hardy shrub that thrives in drought-prone and sandy soil conditions.

Benefits of Feijoa:

  • Tolerates drought and poor soil
  • Produces delicious, fragrant fruit
  • Provides dense foliage for wind protection
  • Low-maintenance and easy to grow
  • Can be used as a hedging plant to protect other crops

Feijoa is an excellent addition to sandy-soil gardens, offering both food and improved soil structure. They grow so much each year, which provides a consistent supply of green material to mulch. This is currently my top producer for mulch in the garden, and I use a mini mulcher with the Ecoflow battery pack to give me cordless solar power anywhere in the garden.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Cassava is a tough, resilient root crop that thrives in hot, dry climates and nutrient-poor soil.

Benefits of Cassava:

  • Grows well in sandy, well-draining soil
  • Produces large, starchy tubers that can be boiled, fried, or made into flour
  • Fast-growing, reaching 2-3m tall in one season
  • Drought-tolerant once established
  • Leaves are edible when cooked
  • Chop-and-drop plant for mulch and soil improvement
  • Helps prevent soil erosion with its strong root system

Cassava is an excellent survival crop that helps build soil health and provides a reliable food source.

Mulching for the win!

If you’re gardening in sandy soil, these five plants to grow for mulch will help improve organic matter, retain moisture, and build long-term soil fertility. By growing multi-functional, fast-growing plants, you can create a thriving, resilient garden—even in harsh conditions.

Never Lose Power Again! ⚡ My Go-To Solar Battery Pack for Gardening

Watch the full video for more info on mulching

Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more gardening tips! 🌱

Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my blog so that I can continue to provide you with free content.

Are you growing any of these plants? Let me know in the comments! And if you found this helpful, share it with fellow gardeners.

Happy gardening!
Holly 🌿

Dried Banana Peel Fertilizer

Dried Banana Peel Fertilizer

Turn leftover Banana peels into a natural dried banana fertilizer to grow an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

My name is Holly and I am on a mission to create a self-sufficient edible garden in my suburban property. I am converting grass into thriving urban permaculture gardens.

It’s important to reduce the amount of organic matter going to landfills because when it does go to the landfill, it is piled up and starved of oxygen. This process is not conducive to breaking down our scraps and they end up producing methane gas, which is not good for our environment. That’s where composting and turning our scraps into natural fertilizers not only boosts the health and production of our gardens but is also better for our planet.

Watch how to make Dried Banana Peel Fertilizer

Which plants will benefit the most from banana peel fertilizer?

Banana peels have potassium which is an essential nutrient for promoting more flowers and fruit on plants. Prioritize your dried banana peel fertilizer on your flowering plants such as Pumpkin, squash, capsicum, and fruit trees. Promoting flowers will offer more chances of fruit!

Having potassium on hand can help when you have deficiencies in the soil. Potassium deficiency can show as leaves turning yellow one falling off especially the older leaves.

If you are growing your own bananas and you get to harvest the fruit, then you can use your peels to feed the plants and create your own fully self-sufficient gardening system!

You can also make a banana peel fertilizer by soaking the peels in water. I talk more about that on my video about 15 natural fertilizers so definitely check that out for more ways to turn your homegrown produce into fertilizers to grow more of your own food.

How to make dried banana peel fertilizer?

To make dried banana fertilizer take your banana peels and lay them out on a tray to dry. You want to keep them somewhere warm and dry until they turn black and crispy. Natural Sunlight is great and will take 1-2 days to dry depending on the temperatures. You could also use a dehydrator to remove the moisture.

Chop the peels up a little to help speed up the drying process. Remove the ends and compost them as these will take a lot longer to dry.

Then once they are completely dry and crumbly. Crush them up into a powder using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder/spice grinder.

Sprinkle a couple of TBSP around your fruit and veggie plants. It’s that easy! You can also add 2 TBSP to a jar of water and mix to pour around your plants.

How to Grow Bananas – The Ultimate Garden-to-Plate Guide

How to Grow Bananas – The Ultimate Garden-to-Plate Guide

food forest

How to Grow Bananas

Learn tips and tricks on how to grow bananas and get abundant harvests. Banana (Musa) are fantastic permaculture plants because they have so many uses both in the garden and the kitchen. Bananas are in fact a perennial herb, not a tree. The bananas grow from a stalk that emerges from the centre of the banana palm.

Bananas come in both full-size and dwarf varieties, allowing you to grow them in both large and small space gardens. Plus, you just can’t beat the flavour of homegrown bananas!

Quick Tips on How to Grow Bananas

PLANT

Spring and Summer.

SOIL

Rich fertile compost and well-drained soil. Mound soil up.

LOCATION

Full sun. Protection from harsh winds.

CARE

Water and feed regularly.

FERTILISE

Feed with compost and with liquid seaweed fertiliser.

PESTS

Rodents may attack the fruit. Root rot in wet soils.

HARVEST

9 months +

REPRODUCE

Small “pups” form at the base of the main trunk.

Why Grow Bananas?

Bananas are quick-growing and have many beneficial relationships within the garden. Once you know what conditions bananas thrive in, they are easy to grow.

Here are some of the many reasons to grow Bananas:

  • Easy to grow
  • Provide shade
  • Reduce soil erosion
  • Leaves used for platters and plates
  • Fibres for weaving
  • Bananas are high in potassium
  • Vitamins A,B and C
  • Great for baking
  • Green matter for composting and mulching gardens
  • Feed and bedding for animals
  • Banana skin fertiliser

Ladyfinger– Popular backyard banana. Small sweeter fruit. Don’t turn brown once cut. Plant size 2-5m tall.

Gold Finger‘ – Cross between ladyfinger and Cavendish. High wind resistance. Quickest to fruit. Plant size 2-5m tall.

Cavendish – Williams’ – Medium-sized bananas. Popular variety. Thin peel and creamy texture. Plant size 2-5m tall.

Blue Java – Cold tolerant variety. Known as the ice cream bananas due to the creamy texture. Plant size 2-5m tall.

‘Red Dacca – Dwarf sized plant. Deep maroon-red peel when ripe. Plant size 2.5m tall.

‘Dwarf Cavendish’  – Smaller version of the Cavendish. Ideal for pots or urban gardens. Plant size 1m tall.

‘Dwarf Ducasse – Dwarf sized plant. Known as the sugar banana due to sweetness. Plant size 1-2m tall.

‘DPM 25 – Variety of Cavendish developed to resist Panama disease. Plant size 2-5m tall.

How to Grow Bananas?

Bananas like warm, sunny, sheltered areas. Choose a full sun location with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Bananas can be damaged by extreme heat, so in some places like Perth, semi-shade may also work well. Bananas are grown from small plants or “pups” so check out which varieties you want to grow and visit your local nurseries. Due to the spread of diseases, there are restrictions in Australia around swapping and trading bananas. Bananas are heavy feeders, so make sure you add lots of compost and composted animal manure into your soil. Make a mound around the base so that the water drains off and the banana has plenty of food.

In permaculture design, bananas are often grown in a banana circle. This way you can add piles of compost, mulch and plant matter to break down and feed all the plants around the circle.

Papaya and root crops such as turmeric and ginger are often planted alongside the bananas to utilise the space. They are also heavy feeders, so make sure there is plenty of compost and plant matter around them. Bananas grow quickly and can be great for preventing soil erosion on sloped blocks.

When to Plant Bananas?

Plant Bananas during the warmer months of spring and summer.

Care/ Maintenance for Bananas

Banana plants are made up of a high percentage of water so they do need adequate moisture to grow. They just don’t like having soggy roots. Well-draining, fertile soil with plenty of mulch or cover crops will help retain moisture.

Bananas want all THE FOOD so regularly feeding of compost, natural fertilisers and mulch can help your bananas thrive.

The leaves will get damaged by winds and turn brown. You can cut these off and lay them at the base of the plants to return nutrients back into the soil.

Pollination/ Fruiting

Bananas send up a flower through the centre of the plant on a spike called the inflorescence. The flowers will have both male and female so you do not need multiple plants for pollination to occur. Once the bananas form, you may need to add support to the bunch to stop the weight from pulling the whole tree down. This will depend on the size and strength of the plan,t and also if you have strong winds or storms.

The small bananas will start to form facing downwards. Once they turn upwards over a few days, it may be beneficial to cover the bunch with a bag. This protects the bananas from birds, bats and other insects.

You can harvest each “hand” of bananas as they start to ripen, or you can remove the whole bunch and hang it somewhere warm and protected to ripen off the tree. I think it’s always best to let the fruit ripen on the tree, but if there are storms coming or birds have found your bunch, then it may be best to remove them.

Bananas only fruit once from each single plant. Once your bananas are ready, you can chop the entire plant down. Cut this up and add to your banana patch as mulch to break down and add nutrients back into the soil.

Pests / Disease

Bananas can be prone to diseases, and due to our high commercial crops here in Australia, there are regulations to help stop the spread of diseases. This includes only purchasing plants from trusted nurseries and not swapping and trading plants around the community.

Bananas are popular among many pests such as birds, bats, rats and fruit flies. Covering the bunch with a banana bag or a recycled plastic bag can help reduce the risk of losing your delicious crop.

How/ When to Harvest Bananas

Bananas will be ready to harvest when they:

  • Are light green to yellow
  • Have no harsh angles but are rounded and smooth
  • The flower remnant at the ends of each banana comes off easily
  • Cut the stalk with at least 20cm at the top to hold and hang
  • Cut the whole tree down as it will die anyway, and use for mulch
  • Remove the ripe bananas and hang the main bunch up somewhere cool and dark to continue ripening.
  • The purple blossom end is also edible. Remove the hard outer leaves to reveal the soft pale centre.

Note:

  • Remove the bag for hanging and ripening purposes, or they will ripen too quickly.
  • Ensure they are hung somewhere that pests cannot get to them.
  • Bananas can be picked when they are still green to use as a savoury “potato” substitute.

Reproducing Bananas

Bananas have been cultivated to have no seeds for optimum eating. The best way to reproduce bananas is to dig up the small suckers or “pups” that start growing from the base of the main stem. Look for suckers that are at least 30cm tall and have narrow sword-like leaves. The broadleaf suckers will still grow but have smaller root systems as they rely on the main plant for water. Use a sharp blade or spade to detach and dig up the side sucker.

Cooking and Using Bananas

Bananas are super versatile and can be used for both sweet and savoury dishes. The banana leaves can also be used as a substitute for baking paper to steam and infuse flavours into meals. This technique is often used for steaming fish or rice. Banana leaves also make great natural platters, plates and serving dishes. Simply compost them after!

Banana pairs well with: Citrus, Strawberry, Coconut, Papaya, Coffee, Caramel, Peanuts, Lemon, Blueberry, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Bacon, Honey, Mango, Pineapple, Guava, Vanilla, Walnut

Banana ideas:

  • Frozen for smoothies
  • Fresh in fruit salads
  • Banana bread
  • Muffins and cakes
  • Banana tart
  • Banana pancakes
  • Hot sauce base
  • Custard

Preserving the Harvest

Bananas produce in huge abundance and can ripen quicker than you can eat them. Freezing and dehydrating bananas is a quick and easy way to get the most out of your harvest. Below are a few ways to utilise your ripe bananas:

  • Chutney and Relish
  • Frozen pieces – great for smoothies, milkshakes and baking.
  • Dehydrated chips
  • Jam, butter and chutney
  • Dried and powdered for flavouring
  • Baked goods are then frozen
  • Banana Peel Fertilizer

More Banana Posts

Other Grow Guides