Keep Your Soil Covered – Your Garden Will Thank You

Bare soil is like bare skin—it burns, dries out, and gets damaged fast. On Waiheke, with strong winds and sudden downpours, uncovered soil can lose moisture in a day and wash away in a single storm. A simple layer of cover can make the difference.

Watercress creates an excellent ground cover during winter when our soil is the most saturated.

For your vegetable garden, ,mulch is the easiest fix and can be anything from straw, to shredded leaves, grass clippings, even a sprinkle of seaweed (collected responsibly) will shield your beds from the hot sun and heavy rain. Cover crops like buckwheat, mustard, daikon radish and lupine work too—they protect the soil while feeding it at the same time.

Keeping soil covered slows evaporation, prevents erosion, and keeps the living microbes underneath happy. A few minutes of mulching now means healthier plants, fewer weeds, and richer soil for seasons to come.