Just the other day, I discovered a half-empty bottle of an energy drink left behind in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. A visiting architect commented, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” which made me see it differently.
All this is to say, the garden is in disarray. But there’s a lot to be said for negligence; coming back from a trip, I spotted a sunflower growing in the back corner.
Now, however, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a local gardener to remove invasive plants like a prickly weed and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing cover crops.
Green manure are superheroes when it comes to improving soil health.
My gardening friend Claire has written about cover crops, as they are essential in crop rotation for vegetable plots. However, the only things I’m harvesting from my garden right now are a few foraged apples and some hardy herbs.
My ambitions for the garden are modest and consistent – and enhancing soil health is my main priority. For those wondering, the scaffolding is for roof repairs, and the fences are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours are on board with replacing them.
Green manure are like superheroes for soil health. Soil likes to be covered, which is why weeds appear. But by sowing fast-growing plants, you can control weeds, bring in bees, shelter beneficial insects, and enrich the soil with nutrients.
Green manure plants aren’t always showy – though some, like certain lupin varieties and bird’s foot trefoil, have pretty flowers – but their role is to thrive rather than look decorative. Once established, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or leave them on the surface for earthworms to pull down. The real magic happens underground.
Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen rye grass, which breaks up heavy earth, a nitrogen-lifter, vetch, and beans that aerate soil.
It feels rewarding in planting seeds that won’t stay forever – on the surface, anyway.
