Soil in need of some love? Plant green manure in your garden and you’ll enrich your soil.
Just the other day, I discovered a half-empty bottle of an energy drink placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend 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.
This week, though, some urgent tidying is underway. Being six months pregnant, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to tackle troublesome weeds like green alkanet and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the newly cleared patches, I’ll be sowing cover crops.
Cover crops act like heroes when it comes to improving soil health.
A fellow garden writer has written about green manure, as they play a key role in crop rotation for vegetable plots. However, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few foraged apples and some hardy herbs.
My garden goals are modest and consistent – and improving the soil is my main priority. To update concerned readers, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the fences are still wobbly, but the neighbours are on board with the plan.
Green manure are like superheroes for soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. But by sowing fast-growing plants, you can suppress weeds, bring in bees, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen.
Green manure plants aren’t always showy – though some, like lupins ‘Blue Sonet’ and a flowering legume, have pretty flowers – but their role is to grow vigorously rather than look decorative. After they’ve grown, you can dig them into the soil, chop them for mulch, or let them decompose for worms to incorporate. Their work happens below the surface.
Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. My selection includes forage rye, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, vetch, and field beans.
It feels rewarding in planting seeds knowing it’s temporary – at least above ground.
