How to improve your soil with what you already have

Using what you’ve got to improve poor soil

We have a problem border in our front garden that is a constant source of disappointment.

When we moved in it was heavily planted with dead and dying shrubs, many of which we’ve since removed. But the soil is poor and dreadfully compacted, made impervious with slowly-rotting roots just below the surface. Every year I try and improve it, and every year the weeds and couch grass come back and flowers fail.

This spring I decided to take a different tack and turn it into a no-dig bed (why didn’t I think of this before?)

I gave it a good weed and then instead of spending money on weed blocking material and bark mulch, I covered the soil with an old cardboard box that had come home from the garden centre filled with plants, and recycled the compost from a few of last year’s growbags.

The cardboard had been out in the rain so was easy to break up and fit round the border’s existing plants and the compost was enough to create a decent depth on top. I then scattered and raked a packet of mixed annual seeds over the top and am looking forward to a summer of colour.

1. I tried to fit the cardboard seamlessly around the existing plants to block any light getting through to the weeds below.

2. There was enough compost in three growbags to cover the cardboard to a decent depth, making it ideal for sowing seeds.

Grab bargains when you see them

Prices are going up everywhere so it pays massive dividends to swoop on bargains when you spot them. Our local Tesco often does compost and plant feeds deals, and recently had Levington’s peat-free compost for £5 a bag, £8 for two, definitely worth having.

The price of plants is also rocketing, so be inventive. Grow from seed, take cuttings and never pass the ‘bargain bucket’ shelves of the garden centre without investigating.

This spring I’ve bought several of last year’s perennials for £1 a pop and they are growing back well since I repotted them in fresh compost.

My star buy was a large aster that had just started to send out new shoots. When I came to re-pot it I discovered that the roots were too tangled to open up so I simply chopped the whole thing in half and now have two healthy plants. I love bargains!