For the Garden and Beyond

Chopped up banana leaves, including the plants stem, serve as mulching material. Whole leaves protect other crops from the hot sun. People fold banana leaves into planters, use it as heavyduty paper or use the fiber to make rope, string and baskets. Ecuadorians uses the leaves for seat cushions; West Africans makes fishing lines with the fiber. In the Philippines, people weave banana leaves into clothing; in Ceylon, they use the leaves to make the soles of shoes.