Soil in need of some love? Plant green manure in your garden and you’ll reap the benefits.

I recently found a half-empty bottle of an energy drink placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend joked, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” which made me see it differently.

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 sprouting in the back corner.

This week, though, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve hired a local gardener to remove troublesome weeds like a prickly weed and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing cover crops.

Green manure are superheroes when it comes to improving soil health.

A fellow garden writer has previously discussed cover crops, as they are essential in crop rotation for vegetable plots. However, the only things I’m picking from my garden right now are a few scrumped apples and some hardy herbs.

My garden goals are simple and steady – and improving the soil is my main priority. To update concerned readers, the scaffolding is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours agree with replacing them.

Green manure are like superheroes for your garden’s foundation. Soil likes to be covered, which is why unwanted plants pop up. But by sowing fast-growing plants, you can control weeds, bring in bees, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen.

Green manure plants may not look exciting – though some, like certain lupin varieties and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their role is to grow vigorously 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 incorporate. The real magic happens below the surface.

Now is the ideal time for sowing these cold-season plants. I’ve chosen rye grass, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, a weed-suppressor, and field beans.

It feels rewarding in sowing something knowing it’s temporary – on the surface, anyway.