Trenching

Another good plan, at this time of the year, is to trench any part of your garden which you won't be wanting for the next few months.

Trenching is a way of digging and turning over the soil very thoroughly. You dig a complete trench, and shift the top soil from this trench to the opposite end of the area you will be digging. Then you use your garden fork to loosen up the sub-soil by turning it and breaking the top crust. After this you dig the next row, shift the top-soil over into the part you have just finished, and loosen the sub-soil in the same way. You keep digging one row after another like this, until you have finished the whole area. It is a good idea to dig in decaying vegetation or compost while you are on the job.

Root vegetables, such as carrots and parsnips, do well when the soil has been treated in this way.

Trenching takes a fair bit of time and energy, but you will really see results if you do it. The idea should be to trench one small part of the garden at a time, so that in the end you will have dug over the whole garden.