Plants are incredibly fertile – grass, dahlias, nettles, parsley, plantain, borage, buttercup, comfrey, dock, shrubs, trees – you get the picture, all plants! Just by being there and growing they are improving soil and the health of all the other plants around them. Take fertility next level with a bigger range of plants, a few tweaks in the vegie patch, and a simple process called chop and drop.
This month, we get your plant powerbase growing, then next month in #4, I’ll show you how to make it even more fertile with well-timed chop and drop – so awesome!
1. Grow a big diversity of plants!
Ha! You’re halfway there already, but likely don’t have enough big lush foliage or diversity. Boost it by:
- adding more perennials: herbs, flowers, vegies – go nuts.
- increasing your diversity: tap roots, groundcovers, insectary plants – the more the merrier.
- using a living mulch, like the photo above, instead of mulchy mulch. Red clover, phacelia and rocket beneath broccoli; chamomile, chives and violets beneath roses; comfrey, golden rod and yarrow beneath fruit trees. Fit plants together to retain light and airflow – spreading groundcovers beneath more upright plants.
- embracing your wild side and letting a patch or two of grass, plantain, dock, wild carrot whatever constitutes your natural groundcover, go for it. A good fit for beneath fruit trees, around young natives, animal runs/ paddocks, and of course my favourite, the lawn.
In the vegie garden: Practise transitioning from greencrop to crop so that your soil for the most of the time is covered in plants. Takes practice, so play around with it – you’ll get it!
Plant the edges with perennials, shrubs and small trees to aerate soil, bring stability and a network of microbes to the annual party.
Beneath and around fruit trees: Either leave the grass and weeds to make like a meadow, or plant the space up, or do a mix of both!
- Use rambunctious companion plants like comfrey, artichokes, yarrow, lemon balm, Italian parsley or fennel beneath taller fruit trees or to plant amongst grass and create a natural meadow.
- Use smaller plants like tansy, sage, clover, garlic or dwarf comfrey in small backyards and beneath dwarf trees.
2. Let the tops grow so the roots grow
As tops grow, roots also grow.
The further roots stretch out, the better resourced they are because there is more opportunity to gather nutrients and water.
The bigger the roots, the more soil microbes live in, on, and around them.
The more microbes, the better plant health.
The better plant health, the more microbes.
And round we go, in an upward spiral of health that requires no bought fertiliser, just plants.
Get growing, friends! Next month I’ll show you how to use all that lush growth to power your garden up.
