🔗 Share this article Soil in need of some love? Sow green manure in your garden and you’ll improve your yields. I recently found a half-empty bottle of Lucozade left behind in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend 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; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower sprouting in the back corner. This week, though, some urgent tidying is underway. Being six months pregnant, I’ve enlisted a professional gardener to tackle invasive plants like a prickly weed and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, while leaving the good stuff. Then, 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. However, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few scrumped apples and some woody herbs. My garden goals are simple and steady – and improving the soil is my main priority. For those wondering, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the fences are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours agree with the plan. Cover crops work wonders for soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why unwanted plants pop up. Yet by sowing fast-growing plants, you can control weeds, attract pollinators, shelter beneficial insects, and enrich the soil with nutrients. Cover crops may not look exciting – though some, like certain lupin varieties and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their role is to thrive rather than be admired. After they’ve grown, you can dig them into the soil, chop them for mulch, or leave them on the surface for earthworms to pull down. The real magic happens below the surface. Autumn is perfect for sowing these overwintering crops. My selection includes rye grass, which breaks up heavy earth, a nitrogen-lifter, vetch, and beans that aerate soil. There’s satisfaction in planting seeds that won’t stay forever – at least above ground.