🔗 Share this article Does your garden soil need a boost? Sow cover crops 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. A visiting architect commented, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective. All this is to say, the garden is a bit of a mess. Sometimes neglect has its perks; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower sprouting in the back corner. This week, though, some necessary firefighting is underway. Being six months pregnant, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to tackle 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 cover crops. Green manure are superheroes when it comes to boosting soil quality. A fellow garden writer has previously discussed green manure, as they play a key role in seasonal planting for vegetable plots. 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 improving the soil is my main priority. For those wondering, the scaffolding 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 your garden’s foundation. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. But by sowing vigorous crops, you can suppress weeds, attract pollinators, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen. Cover crops aren’t always showy – though some, like lupins ‘Blue Sonet’ and bird’s foot trefoil, have pretty flowers – but their purpose is to grow vigorously rather than be admired. After they’ve grown, you can turn them under, cut them for compost, or leave them on the surface for earthworms to incorporate. Their work happens below the surface. Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen forage rye, great for clay soil, a nitrogen-lifter, a weed-suppressor, and field beans. It feels rewarding in planting seeds knowing it’s temporary – at least above ground.