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.
All this is to say, the garden is in disarray. Sometimes neglect has its perks; coming back from a trip, I spotted a sunflower growing in the back corner.
Now, however, some necessary firefighting is underway. Being six months pregnant, 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. Then, in the newly cleared patches, I’ll be sowing cover crops.
Green manure are superheroes when it comes to boosting soil quality.
My gardening friend Claire has written about cover crops, as they are essential in seasonal planting for edible gardens. However, the only things I’m harvesting from my garden right now are a few scrumped apples and some hardy herbs.
My garden goals are simple and steady – and improving the soil is top of the list. To update concerned readers, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are still wobbly, but the neighbours are on board with the plan.
Green manure work wonders for soil health. Soil likes to be covered, which is why unwanted plants pop up. Yet by sowing vigorous crops, you can control weeds, bring in bees, shelter beneficial insects, and fix nitrogen.
Cover crops may not look exciting – though some, like certain lupin varieties and bird’s foot trefoil, have pretty flowers – but their purpose is to thrive rather than be admired. After they’ve grown, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or leave them on the surface for worms to pull down. The real magic happens below the surface.
Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen forage rye, which breaks up heavy earth, Italian ryegrass, a weed-suppressor, and beans that aerate soil.
There’s satisfaction in sowing something knowing it’s temporary – on the surface, anyway.
