🔗 Share this article Does your garden soil need a boost? Sow cover crops in your garden and you’ll reap the benefits. Just the other day, I discovered a partially finished bottle of Lucozade placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend joked, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective. All this is to say, the garden is a bit of a mess. But there’s a lot to be said for negligence; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower growing in the back corner. Now, however, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to tackle invasive plants like green alkanet and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing green manure. Cover crops act like heroes when it comes to boosting soil quality. My gardening friend Claire has written about green manure, as they are essential in crop rotation for edible gardens. 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 simple and steady – and enhancing soil health is my main priority. To update concerned readers, 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 soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. Yet 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 certain lupin varieties and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their role is to grow vigorously rather than look decorative. Once established, you can turn them under, chop them for mulch, or let them decompose for earthworms to incorporate. Their work happens below the surface. Autumn is perfect for sowing these overwintering crops. I’ve chosen forage rye, which breaks up heavy earth, a nitrogen-lifter, vetch, and field beans. It feels rewarding in sowing something that won’t stay forever – at least above ground.