Soil in need of some love? Sow cover crops in your garden and you’ll improve your yields.
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. A visiting architect commented, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” which made me see it differently.
In short, the garden is a bit of a mess. 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 hired a local gardener to remove troublesome weeds like a prickly weed and young tree shoots from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Then, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing green manure.
Cover crops act like heroes when it comes to improving soil health.
A fellow garden writer has previously discussed green manure, as they play a key role in crop rotation for edible gardens. However, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few scrumped apples and some woody herbs.
My ambitions for the garden are modest and consistent – and enhancing soil health is top of the list. For those wondering, the scaffolding is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours agree with the plan.
Cover crops work wonders for your garden’s foundation. Soil likes to be covered, which is why unwanted plants pop up. Yet by sowing vigorous crops, you can suppress weeds, bring in bees, host pest-eating creatures, and enrich the soil with nutrients.
Green manure plants aren’t always showy – though some, like certain lupin varieties and bird’s foot trefoil, have pretty flowers – but their role is to grow vigorously rather than look decorative. After they’ve grown, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or leave them on the surface for earthworms to pull down. The real magic 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 beans that aerate soil.
There’s satisfaction in planting seeds knowing it’s temporary – at least above ground.
