Cover crops can do wonders for next year’s garden. So how do you decide which to plant?
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Oats used as cover crop grow between rows of maize. Photo © Alan Manson, via Wikimedia Commons |
In our own garden, we like to experiment with different cover crops and have had success with oats and winter rye in fall, as well as buckwheat, Sudan grass, and berseem clover in summer. Following are some common cover crops you might try:
Grasses
Winter rye (Secale cereale)
Seeding time and rate: Late summer to mid-October at 2 – 3 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Mow in spring before seeds set (if extensive growth) and till under
Benefits and tips:
- Germinates at low temperatures and can be planted later than other cover crops
- Cold hardy and tolerant of low-fertility soils
- Produces a lot of growth in spring
- May prevent weed-seed germination, but can also affect tiny vegetable seeds if tilled in spring too close to planting time
Oats (Avena sativa)
Seeding time and rate: Mid-August to mid-September at 1 – 2 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Till under in spring
Benefits and tips:
- Fast-growing cover
- Tolerant of wet soils
- Winter killed
Sorghum-Sudan-grass (Sorghum bicolor × S. sudanense)
Seeding time and rate: Late spring to midsummer at 1 lb/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Mow during summer if needed and till under in spring or transplant vegetable seedlings into winter-killed grass
Benefits and tips:
- Fast growing, but requires good fertility and moisture
- Excellent weed control
- Winter killed
Legumes
Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa)
Seeding time and rate: August to early September at 1– 2 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Cut in spring and till under or cut at flowering and till under
Benefits and tips:
- Best nitrogen-fixing legume
- Produces substantial growth
- Mix with vetch/pea inoculant before sowing in new areas
- Winter hardy
- Can be sown with rye or oats
Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
Seeding time and rate: Late summer to early fall at 0.5 – 2 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Till under in spring
Benefits and tips:
- Adds nitrogen to soil
- Not reliably winter hardy
- Can also be spring planted and grown as summer cover crop
- Use true clover inoculant before sowing in new areas
Cowpea (Vigna sinensa)
Seeding time and rate: Early summer to late summer at 2 – 3 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Till under at flowering or if late planting, allow to winter-kill
Benefits and tips:
- Adds nitrogen to soil
- Develops deep taproot and is tolerant of droughty, poor soil once established
- Good for summer weed control
- Winter killed
- Use cowpea/peanut inoculant before sowing in new areas
Other
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Seeding time and rate: Early summer to midsummer at 3 lbs/1,000 square feetCut/kill method: Mow and/or till under at flowering
Benefits and tips:
- Fast growing, can get two crops in summer if allowed to reseed
- Good for summer weed control
- Tolerates acid soil
- Winter killed
Text excerpted from Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook © 2010 by Ron Kujawski and Jennifer Kujawski. All rights reserved.
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