Choosing the Right Cover Crops
Cover crops are fast-growing crops that you grow between planting seasons and then till back into the soil. Different cover crops have different properties, and serious gardeners use them to replenish and repair their gardening soil (which allows them to replenish the soil naturally instead of using chemical fertilizers and artificial soil supplements).
Not sure which to use? Here are some basic guidelines to help you find the right cover crops for your garden.
Nitrogen-Fixing Cover Crops |
Nitrogen-Scavenging Cover Crops |
Cover Crops for Attracting
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Alfalfa Medium Red Clover Lupine Soybeans Vetch White Clover |
Ryegrass Buckwheat Fall Mustards Forage Turnip Medium Red Clover Rye |
Buckwheat Medium Red Clover Sudangrass Sweetclover |
Cover Crops for
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Cover Crops for
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Cover Crops That
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Ryegrass Buckwheat Fall Mustards Field Peas Forage Radish Forage Turnip Hairy Vetch |
Fall Mustards Field Peas Japanese Millet Oats Rye Sudangrass |
Forage Turnip Hairy Vetch Sudangrass Teff White Clover |
Fast-Growing Grasses |
Cover Crops that Stabilize Soil Aggregates |
Cover Crops that Loosen Compact Soil |
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Barley Buckwheat Millet Mustard Oats Rye Ryegrass Sudangrass |
Ryegrass Buckwheat Fall Mustards Hairy Vetch Oats Rye Wheat Spelt Triticale |
Fall Mustards Forage Radish Medium Red Clover Sweetclover |
For an excellent, in-depth look at the crops listed above, check out the cover crop agricultural pages at Cornell University.
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