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I recently found a partially finished bottle of Lucozade placed in the euphorbia trough by one of the scaffolders. An architect friend joked, “Are you sure that’s Lucozade?” giving me a new perspective.

In short, the garden is in disarray. But there’s a lot to be said for negligence; after returning from holiday, I spotted a sunflower sprouting in the back corner.

Now, however, some necessary firefighting is underway. As I’m expecting a baby, I’ve enlisted a local gardener to tackle invasive plants like green alkanet and young tree shoots from the neighbour’s tree, while leaving the good stuff. Then, in the open patches, I’ll be sowing cover crops.

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

My gardening friend Claire has previously discussed green manure, as they play a key role in crop rotation for vegetable plots. But, the only things I’m harvesting from my garden right now are a few foraged apples and some woody herbs.

My garden goals are modest and consistent – and enhancing soil health is top of the list. For those wondering, the scaffold is for roof repairs, and the garden boundaries are yet to be fixed, but the neighbours agree with replacing them.

Cover crops work wonders for soil health. Bare soil invites weeds, which is why weeds appear. Yet by sowing fast-growing plants, you can suppress weeds, bring in bees, host pest-eating creatures, and fix nitrogen.

Green manure plants may not look exciting – though some, like certain lupin varieties and a flowering legume, have lovely blooms – but their purpose 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 worms to pull down. The real magic happens underground.

Now is the ideal time for sowing these overwintering crops. My selection includes rye grass, great for clay soil, Italian ryegrass, vetch, and beans that aerate soil.

It feels rewarding in planting seeds knowing it’s temporary – on the surface, anyway.