Soil in need of some love? Plant green manure in your garden and you’ll reap the benefits.
I recently found a partially finished bottle of an energy drink placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. A visiting architect commented, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective.
In short, the garden is a bit of a mess. 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. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to remove invasive plants 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.
Green manure are superheroes when it comes to boosting soil quality.
A fellow garden writer has written about green manure, as they are essential in seasonal planting for vegetable plots. But, the only things I’m harvesting from my garden right now are a few foraged apples and some hardy herbs.
My garden goals are modest and consistent – and enhancing soil health is top of the list. For those wondering, the scaffold 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 soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why unwanted plants pop up. Yet by sowing fast-growing plants, you can control weeds, bring in bees, shelter beneficial insects, and fix nitrogen.
Green manure plants may not look exciting – though some, like certain lupin varieties and bird’s foot trefoil, have lovely blooms – but their purpose 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 overwintering crops. My selection includes rye grass, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, a weed-suppressor, and field beans.
There’s satisfaction in planting seeds that won’t stay forever – on the surface, anyway.