Green Manures

To the organic gardener, Comfrey is invaluable. It’s easy to grow, easy to use and incredibly beneficial to the garden. Leaves can be used as a top dressing or chopped and mixed with leaf mould to make a base for potting compost. You can make your own organic liquid feed or use as a compost activator.

Proponents of alfalfa describe it as a wonder crop. As a green manure, alfalfa can be grown for a few months or a year. The plants are able to fix large quantities of nitrogen from the air, its long roots break up soil pans, prevent erosion and improve soil and water quality.

Green Manure “General Mix” is designed to provide a short term mix for use throughout the year. The plants have nitrogen fixing properties and provide a mix of bulky foliage that add organic matter. improving the texture of the soil and suppressing weeds.

‘Landsberger’ is the ultimate in winter green manure. Deep rooting and an excellent nitrogen fixer. With prolific growth it is an excellent ground cover. This highly esteemed mix is suitable for overwintering and can be sown throughout autumn until November.

A high quality White Mustard variety, this cool season, fast growing crop produces large volumes of green matter and residual fibre. It is particularly good for soil that lacks organic matter as it helps to improve soil texture and moisture retention. Sow to September.

Rye is one of the best green manures for winter use, it is the best cool-season cereal cover for absorbing soil nitrogen and gives good crop cover to help prevent nutrient leaching, it provides exceptional weed suppression. Sow to November.

Green Manure 'Spring Mix’ is designed for maximum germination at low temperatures, this fast growing cover adds both nitrogen and the maximum amount of organic matter to the soil. Includes English Vetch and Mustard White Tilney. Sow from March to September.

Tares and Rye are a traditional combination as they work well together. Used particularly in crop rotation prior to planting leafy crops such as brassicas, this two-way mix guarantees biomass, builds soil and leaves readily available nitrogen for hungry crops. Sow in spring or as late as November.

As a green manure Tares are an excellent choice for heavy soils, they produce a lot of bulky foliage that suppresses weeds, adds organic matter and improves the texture of the soil. Easy to dig in, this hardy annual can be sown in spring to dig in later in summer or sown in autumn to overwinter.

Green Manure ‘Winter Mix’ is a specially formulated mix suitable for sowing in in autumn and for digging in during spring. It is a good all-round mix, containing four plants that each have different properties: Italian Rye, Crimson clover, Mustard White Tilney and Red Clover.

The more I see of this rather attractive little plant, the more I grow to appreciate it. Now I seem to spot it all over the place, in meadows, woodland, road verges and gardens. The bright yellow fragrant flowers can be seen in blossom from the end of April through until mid September.

The Stinging Nettle is a very valuable plant, used for food and medicine by traditional cultures for hundreds of years. This wild herb is one of the most useful plants we have. Most useful to the organic gardener they can be used to make nitrogen-rich liquid feed for your plants.

Phacelia is a very attractive plant and one with a variety of uses. Very rich in both nectar and pollen, it is listed as one of the top 20 honey-producing flowers for honeybees. It is ideal for a wildlife-friendly planting scheme and makes a wonderful green manure.