I recently found a partially finished bottle of an energy drink placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. A visiting architect joked, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective.
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.
This week, though, some urgent tidying is underway. Being six months pregnant, I’ve hired a professional gardener to remove invasive plants like a prickly weed and young tree shoots from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the newly cleared patches, I’ll be sowing green manure.
Green manure are superheroes when it comes to boosting soil quality.
A fellow garden writer has written about cover crops, as they are essential in crop rotation for vegetable plots. But, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few scrumped apples and some woody herbs.
My garden goals are simple and steady – and enhancing soil health is top of the list. For those wondering, the scaffolding is for roof repairs, and the fences are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours are on board with the plan.
Green manure are like superheroes for your garden’s foundation. Soil likes to be covered, which is why weeds appear. But by sowing vigorous crops, you can control weeds, attract pollinators, host pest-eating creatures, and enrich the soil with nutrients.
Cover crops aren’t always showy – though some, like certain lupin varieties and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their role is to thrive rather than be admired. After they’ve grown, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or let them decompose for worms to incorporate. Their work happens underground.
Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen forage rye, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, vetch, and field beans.
There’s satisfaction in sowing something that won’t stay forever – on the surface, anyway.
