Plants are incredibly fertile – grass, dahlias, nettles, parsley, plantain, borage, buttercup, comfrey, dock, shrubs, trees – you get the picture, all plants! Plants are natures soil builders, in part from the bits and pieces of organic matter they drop onto the soil, but mostly from the biology that lives in and around their roots. The more biology, the healthier the soil, the healthier the plants.
We’ve believed for a long time now, that fertility comes from the top down, from the stuff we add to soil. While this isn’t wrong, its only a bit player in overall fertility. Biology is the main event.
We are, on the whole, drastically over feeding our soils and as result, causing nearly all the pests and disease that plague our gardens. Ease away from adding stuff and move towards natural health via plants, just as nature intended. The reduction in pests and disease is stunning and cropping gets easier and easier.
Give yourself a grace period to adjust. Start by considering these two simple missions, and in next months Healthy Soil Project #4, I’ll add a third.
1. Grow a big diversity of plants!
Ha! You’re probably halfway there already, who knew gardening could be so easy and so pretty. The trick is, in each garden space – whether flowers, fruits or vegies, to gather together different plant families and plants with different growth habits e.g. tap roots, groundcovers, insectary plants – the more the merrier. Boost diversity by:
- adding more perennials: herbs, fruits, flowers, vegies – go nuts.
- using a living mulch (like the photo above), instead of mulchy mulch. E.g. red clover, phacelia and rocket beneath broccoli; chamomile, chives and violets beneath roses; comfrey, golden rod and yarrow beneath fruit trees. Fit plants together in a way that retains light and airflow to food crops.
- 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 meadow 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. This takes practice, thing is just to start! Every time something finishes or is harvested, sow or plant a mix of new stuff right away. Watch what happens and adapt your plant choices and mixtures until you figure out the best ones for you. Those are the ones that thrive easily, and the ones you love.
- Plant the edges with perennials, shrubs and small trees to aerate soil, bring stability and a network of microbes to the annual party. In a large garden, strips of perennials throughout is an awesome idea.
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 fruit trees on big rootstocks. Or plant them into pockets in the grass to diversify and create a natural meadow.
- Use smaller plants like tansy, sage, clover, garlic or dwarf comfrey in small backyards and beneath trees on dwarf rootstocks.
2. Let the tops grow so the roots grow
As tops grow, roots also grow. This is hugely advantageous for two reasons:
- The further roots stretch out, the bigger the pool of minerals, nutrients and water and the better able they are to provide for and nurture the above ground parts of themselves.
- 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!
See you next month, where I’ll show you how to use all that lush growth to really power fertility up!