Does your garden soil need a boost? Sow green manure in your garden and you’ll enrich your soil.

Just the other day, I discovered a half-empty 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; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower growing in the back corner.

Now, however, some urgent tidying is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a local gardener to remove invasive plants like a prickly weed and robinia saplings from the neighbour’s tree, but keeping desirable plants. Next, in the newly cleared patches, I’ll be sowing green manure.

Cover crops act like heroes when it comes to improving soil health.

My gardening friend Claire has previously discussed cover crops, as they are essential in seasonal planting for vegetable plots. But, the only things I’m harvesting from my garden right now are a few scrumped 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 scaffold is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are still wobbly, but the neighbours agree with replacing them.

Cover crops are like superheroes for soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. But by sowing vigorous crops, you can suppress weeds, bring in bees, 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 lovely blooms – but their role is to thrive rather than look decorative. 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.

Autumn is perfect for sowing these cold-season plants. My selection includes forage rye, which breaks up heavy earth, a nitrogen-lifter, vetch, and field beans.

It feels rewarding in planting seeds that won’t stay forever – on the surface, anyway.