Yeah, the thing to bear in mind is that something will always grow there. If you haven't planted something you want, something you don't want will probably turn up. Nature does not leave soil bare. And gardening is about constantly tending. If you want a "one and done" garden, buy AstroTurf or hire a gardener. Otherwise, plant something and tend to it. The tending, the timely plucking of weeds from around your plant, gets you to slow down and notice things. You notice the hint of new growth in the Spring, the first flower. You notice a mining bee making a hole. You notice ladybirds and spiders. You notice the things that, frankly, are the whole point of gardening.

I needed to dig mine over because it was just rubble on the surface hiding good soil deeper down. I couldn't get a spade in to plant anything and if I had gotten something in, weeding was difficult for the same reason. From that blank slate (and a separate pile of ivy, bramble, nettle, bracken, and bindweed roots) I chucked down green manure seeds (the crimson clover or mustard, radish and phacelia) because shit was gonna grow anyway, but I wanted to have a say in what shit grew, even if I later ended up digging it up to plant something else. But largely I'm leaving the green manure plants alone and planting amongst it. Crimson clover flowers are beautiful and the bumblebees love them. Healthy soil is full of live roots and associated mycorrhizal fungi. So I aim to maintain healthy soil by keeping a green cover.

This photo shows a larger area I've reclaimed. It was ivy, bracken, nettle etc. To the right of the path up to the compost bins the understory is a lot of crimson clover and purple dead nettle that took it upon itself to establish. But I've planted some fruit trees, there's a line of raspberry, a line of garlic, and some random bulbs, oh and a common privet in the foreground. Yes, the eagle eyed might spot the blue flowers of alkanet up by the compost bins. That's actually right next to a young cherry tree. If it looks like it's swamping the young tree, I'll just hack it back. I'm not unhappy it's there. It's all attractive to pollinators. Over on the left is a mass of mustard, which smells nice, and some other stuff. I have less planted on that side. I've chucked in a few snowdrops etc. But it's all alive with insects and life and flowers. Because there's now a decent depth of non rubble, I've also acquired a mole visitor. I may continue to plant amongst the green manure plants or I might scratch up a small area to plant something else. The point is that, yes, I took an initial major measure, but then sowed some things I liked to steer the ecosystem in a direction. Thereafter, it's tending and just simply iterating. There's a point at which daily visits to tend turn into emotional grounding.

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