Something I've been reading about recently is no-dig gardening. So you've probably been told by every book, TV show, grandparent or gardener that digging is absolutely essential for gardening. But this is not true! Digging actually damages the soil. Have a look at these links:
Having healthy plants is more about having healthy soil. Look after the soil, and the plants will look after themselves.
Don't believe me? Who's digging up the forest soil for all that growth?
Speaking of which, I finally got round to green manuring a patch of the garden. I didn't have much luck with winter rye last time round, so this time I tried field beans. I had a germination rate of 100%, plus I got a decent amount of growth from November to February. I had a vague memory of reading an article saying to cut the plants down, then cover with cardboard (even though every other article I've seen does the digging spiel). So that's what I've done. It will take about a month to decompose, and we'll see how the soil is after. But yes, cut and drop. Leave the roots buried, and let the foliage sit on the soil. The worms will do all the work.
I didn't plant them densely enough, plus I should have planted them earlier. So next year I'm hoping I can do the whole border, starting early October and I'll plant them way more densely. Oh another problem I had was the blasted squirrel kept digging them up. For why, I have no idea. Probably just to annoy me. Blessed squirrel also broke my squirrel-proof feeder. Damn you, écu, damn you.