If so, then we are here to persuade you to give it a bit of TLC this weekend. There are 5 main reasons that we’d advise not leaving your veg patch to go astray over the next few months….
- Weeds
Left to its own devices your veg patch will soon be covered with weeds. This isn’t great because the more weeds there are, the more weeds will spread and grow and the more weeds you’ll have popping up during the spring and summer growing season. Far better to pull them all up now and then cover the bed with cardboard or black plastic to prevent them from growing. - Slugs (and other pests)
Any weeds allowed to grow in beds now make excellent shelters for slugs, snails and other garden pests. And guess what? They’ll keep reproducing and you’ll have more to deal with next season. Pull the weeds up and the slugs will have to find a new area of the garden. - Disease
If diseased leaves from old plants (e.g. powdery mildew or blight ridden foliage) is left to decompose in beds, then you’re much more likely to get a repeat of the problem next year. Try to gather up old foliage and put disease free leaves in the compost pile and burn/get rid of damaged leaves. - Nutrients
If you leave your veg bed free for weeds, then they will deplete it fairly quickly of nutrients meaning that next year’s crops don’t do so well. The better solution is to pull up weeds, cover the soil with well rotted manure or compost and then pop a layer cardboard or plastic over the top to block out the light. The compost and manure will break down over the next few months and replenish nutrients for next season. - Soil Quality
Leaving the soil exposed to heavy rain, frost and snow over the winter doesn’t help it much at all. It’ll become waterlogged quite quickly and frosts will both harden the soil and make it cold – if you cover it, then you will have a good headstart next spring as the soil will be more workable and warmer too.