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Cover crops just might be the hardest-working plants you'll ever grow. Cover crops (also called green manure) suppress weeds, build productive soil, and help control pests and diseases. Plus, cover crops are easy to plant and require only basic care to thrive. And they grow well in nearly every part of the country.
Get started! Maybe you already know about the benefits of cover crops but think they're just for farmers and other large-scale growers. Think again. Cover crops are well suited to all gardens, whether they're big or small. Here's a step-by-step guide to reaping the rewards of cover crops in your garden.
Step 1: Planting. If you've ever reseeded a bare patch in your lawn, rest assured you can plant a cover crop. Work up the soil gently with a garden rake, broadcast seed over the soil, and then rake it in. Raking establishes good soil-to-seed contact and protects the seed from birds. "Birds sometimes eat the seeds if they are too close to the surface," says Nancy Creamer, Ph.D., director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at North Carolina State University. If you decide to plant cover crops in the fall, be sure to allow them plenty of time to become established. "This means planting them four weeks before killing frosts. The one exception is cereal rye, which can be planted right up to a frost," says Marianne Sarrantonio, Ph.D., associate professor of sustainable agriculture at the University of Maine.
Step 2: Care. Cover crops are low-maintenance compared to most crops, but they still need some care. Mowing keeps large cover crops manageable, and sorghum-sudangrass actually increases its root growth if mowed once or twice. White Dutch clover planted in garden pathways needs to be mowed regularly to keep it from competing with vegetables and flowers. Be sure to water cover crops during times of drought.
Step 3: Killing. You must kill your cover crops before they set seed and the topgrowth gets out of control. That's right, kill them. "The best time to kill them is at flowering or when the seedheads emerge on grains. The annuals can all be killed at this point by cutting at the base of the plant," advises Dr. Sarrantonio.
You can mow cover crops with a lawn mower or a weed trimmer, depending on how tall the plants are. Wait a day or two until the leaves and stems dry down, and then dig them in. Longer pieces of stems and vines may interfere with tilling, but it won't take long before the vegetative growth partially decomposes.
After turning under a cover crop of grasses, wait two to three weeks before planting vegetables or flowers. The decomposition of the green material can tie up soil nitrogen. And cover crops such as rye are allelopathic, which means they inhibit seed germination.
Finding space in your garden When I discuss cover crops in gardening classes, a common concern is the amount of valuable garden space they occupy. However, you can fit cover crops right into your garden plan.
Succession cropping is one of the easiest ways to do this. After spring crops of lettuce, radishes, and other early vegetables have been harvested, plant a fast-growing cover crop, such as buckwheat. In most climates, you can allow this cover crop to flower and still have time to plant a crop of frost-tolerant vegetables. Cover crops can also be planted in the fall after some main season crops, such as cabbage, are finished.
Interplanting cover crops with vegetables is possible, though a bit trickier. "Ample water and nutrients available to both cover crops and vegetable crops, and controlling growth of the cover crop, are key to making this approach work," cautions Dr. Creamer. It's also important to delay your planting of the cover crop. "A good rule of thumb is to sow the cover crop seed into the vegetable bed one-third of the way through the vegetable crop's growing cycle," says Steve Diver of ATTRA—The National Sustainable Agriculture Service. For example, if you've planted a 75-day corn variety, interplant a cover crop about 25 days after seeding the corn. Organic farmers have had good luck with delayed interplantings of yellow blossom sweet clover with lettuce and onions. Dr. Sarrantonio suggests transplanting young tomato and pepper plants into a mowed mulch of hairy vetch and rye. The mulch reduces weeds, maintains moisture, and provides nitrogen.
