Published: 13 March 2026 - Watch on YouTube
Welcome back to My Windy Garden. On another foggy day at the allotment in West Sussex, I continue transforming the plot step by step. In this episode I focus on clearing weeds, preparing a border using the no dig method, and mulching the soil with horse manure to improve the heavy clay ground.
After a few days of sunshine, the weather returned to its usual foggy and grey conditions. Despite that, I came to the allotment to work on a small project in the border where my raspberries are growing.
The long term plan for this area is to create a space mainly for flowers and herbs, but first it needs a proper reset by removing weeds and preparing the soil.
Before starting work, I checked the onions and garlic that were planted earlier. The onions look healthy so far and seem to be settling well in the beds.
The garlic is less promising, but for now I am leaving it alone and hoping it might still recover.
The first step was clearing materials stored in the border and removing the growing weeds. Working in heavy clay soil is physically demanding because the ground forms large compact lumps when dug.
Despite the challenge, once the weeds were removed the border immediately looked much tidier and easier to work with.
During the cleanup I created a large pile of weeds, which made me realise it is time to finally build a compost heap on the plot.
The plan is to construct it using pallets and line the base with cardboard before adding weeds and other organic matter.
The next day I returned with cardboard and fresh horse manure collected from a local farm. The border was covered with cardboard first to suppress weeds, following a simple no dig gardening approach.
After that I spread the manure over the cardboard to start building organic matter in the soil. Over time it will break down and improve the structure of the clay ground.
While spreading the manure, I noticed that many of the bags contained more straw and stable bedding than actual manure. Only a couple of the bags contained what I would consider proper manure.
This raised the question whether the straw heavy mixture should stay as mulch or be moved to the compost heap instead.
The border is now weeded, covered with cardboard, and layered with organic material. It can sit and decompose for a while before planting begins.
In the next stage I plan to prepare a potato bed using the manure that has been decomposing on the plot since December and continue developing paths with woodchip once I manage to get a delivery.
Thank you for being part of the allotment transformation journey. Step by step the plot is slowly changing and improving. If you have experience using horse manure as mulch, I would love to hear your thoughts. See you in the next episode.
Tags: #AllotmentTransformation #AllotmentGardening #HorseManure #SoilHealth #NoDigGardening