Winter Rye

rye cover crip

The hardiest of cereals, rye can be seeded later in fall than other cover crops and still provide considerable dry matter, an extensive soil-holding root system, significant reduction of nitrate leaching and exceptional weed suppression. Inexpensive and easy to establish, rye outperforms all other cover crops on infertile, sandy or acidic soil or on poorly …

Read more

Oats

oats - cover crop

Oats are not particularly winter hardy. If you need a low-cost and reliable fall cover that winterkills in Hardiness Zone 6 and colder and much of Zone 7, oats is the cover crop for you. Spring-planted oats are used for green manure, while fall-planted oats provide winter-killed ground cover. The residue is incorporated before the …

Read more

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is a fast-growing summer cover crop; a succulent that can be grown as a green manure because it adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil. It smothers weeds, protect the soil surface and provides habitat for pollinating and other beneficial insects. Buckwheat seed can germinate within days of planting, especially if the soil …

Read more

White Sweet Clover

monarch butterfly on white sweetclover

Sweet clovers (both white and yellow) are excellent soil-builders because they have a deep taproot that extends through the soil profile which takes up nutrients and minerals that can be used by crops. What is the difference between white (Melilotus alba) and yellow (Melilotus officinalis) sweet clovers? The biennial yellow sweet clover takes two years …

Read more

Yellow Sweet Clover

Melilotus officinalis - Sweet Clover

Melilotus officinalis or Yellow Sweetclover was the king of green manures and grazing legumes in the South and later throughout the Midwest in the first half of this century. Sweetclover is used as a cover crop most commonly now in the Plains region. This cool-season biennial is an expert at mining insoluble minerals like potassium …

Read more

Hairy Vetch

Vicia villosa - Hairy Vetch

It is said that few legumes match Vicia villosa or “hairy vetch” for spring residue production or nitrogen contribution. Widely adapted and winter hardy through Hardiness Zone 4 and into Zone 3 (with snow cover), hairy vetch is a top nitrogen provider. The cover grows slowly in fall, but root development continues over winter. Growth …

Read more

Crimson Clover

Trifolium incarnatum- Crimson Clover

Trifolium incarnatum, the botanical name for Crimson Clover means “blood red”. Crimson clover is a cool-season annual (in southern states) that is relatively easy to grow and is more tolerant of poor soils than other clovers. A benefit of crimson clover is it is relatively inexpensive. It is less than half the price of perennial …

Read more

Green Manure

green manure

What is Green Manure? A green manure crop is one that can be grown over a season when the bed is not in use, often fall and winter, and later tilled into the soil to improve the fertility. A green manure crop grown over fall and winter also prevents the soil from eroding and compaction …

Read more