I recently found a partially finished bottle of an energy drink placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend joked, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” which made me see it differently.
In short, the garden is a bit of a mess. But there’s a lot to be said for negligence; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower growing in the back corner.
Now, however, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve hired a professional gardener to remove invasive plants like a prickly weed and young tree shoots from the neighbour’s tree, while leaving the good stuff. Then, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing green manure.
Green manure are superheroes when it comes to improving soil health.
A fellow garden writer has previously discussed cover crops, as they play a key role 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 garden goals are simple and steady – and enhancing soil health is my main priority. For those wondering, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are still wobbly, but the neighbours agree with replacing them.
Green manure are like superheroes for your garden’s foundation. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. Yet by sowing fast-growing plants, you can suppress weeds, bring in bees, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen.
Green manure plants may not look exciting – though some, like lupins ‘Blue Sonet’ and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their role is to thrive rather than look decorative. After they’ve grown, you can turn them under, cut them for compost, or let them decompose for earthworms to pull down. Their work happens below the surface.
Autumn is perfect for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen rye grass, which breaks up heavy earth, Italian ryegrass, vetch, and field beans.
There’s satisfaction in planting seeds knowing it’s temporary – on the surface, anyway.
