Just the other day, I discovered a partially finished bottle of an energy drink left behind in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend commented, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective.
In short, the garden is in disarray. But there’s a lot to be said for negligence; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower sprouting in the back corner.
This week, though, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to tackle troublesome weeds like green alkanet 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.
Cover crops act like heroes when it comes to boosting soil quality.
My gardening friend Claire has written about cover crops, as they play a key role in crop rotation for edible gardens. But, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few foraged apples and some woody herbs.
My ambitions for the garden are simple and steady – and improving the soil is top of the list. For those wondering, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the fences are still wobbly, but the neighbours agree with replacing them.
Green manure work wonders for your garden’s foundation. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. Yet by sowing fast-growing plants, you can suppress weeds, attract pollinators, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen.
Green manure plants aren’t always showy – though some, like certain lupin varieties and bird’s foot trefoil, have lovely blooms – but their role is to grow vigorously rather than be admired. Once established, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or leave them on the surface for worms to incorporate. The real magic happens below the surface.
Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. My selection includes rye grass, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, a weed-suppressor, and beans that aerate soil.
There’s satisfaction in sowing something knowing it’s temporary – on the surface, anyway.
