green manure

[helly]

Hello all can anyone advise me when to cut my green manure that I have had in some of my beds since last year as I have never used it before. Itstands about 9" in height
cheers Helen

[GreenPete]

It depends what you are growing as a green manure. A general rule of thumb is not to let it go to seed. You grow it to store nutrients to stop them leaching away, also to protect the soil during the winter. You dig them in a few weeks before you want to use the space, but if they go to seed you'll end up with the seedlings competing for food, light and space with whatever you're trying to grow.

[Comfreyfan]

If it gets too woody before you're ready to dig it in (I've left mine too long before!), you can cut the tops off, compost them and dig the roots in - still seems to give you great results and still keeps the weeds to a minimum. (Used all my tops in the runner bean trench last year).

You can undersow some crops with a green manure - they take and trap different nutrients so they compliment each other - eg you can grow clover under sweetcorn. I tried 3 sister planting last year (squash under the sweetcorn and french beans climbing up the corn stalks) - same sort of idea. It was a bit of a jungle, but good crops from all 3.

If you're not planning on digging the plot again you can hoe off the green manure tops and leave them as a mulch.

[Oleander]

I have grown autumn-sown green manure for the first time, and let it get too long. I am going to try using the lawn edge strimmer on it, to take the tops of, then rake that up and put it in the compost bin. That should leave just the roots and an inch or two above ground, which I will then dig in. I'll let you know if it works!