I’m going to try to ignore the January itch to have a garden next year and let my garden soil recover. I’d like to plant the best ground cover to rejuvenate the soil. What should I plant and where do I get it?
I’ve thought alfalfa, or some other nitrogen fixing legume, Mom says ryegrass.
Don’t know…do you?
Since the OP is seeking opinions, this is better suited for IMHO than GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You don’t really have to settle on one kind, the local nursery or garden store probably sells a blend. I bought some in bulk so I don’t have a label but I think it has Russian winter peas, some kind of rye grass, clover, and who knows what.
That way you get a variety and the benefits of all types.
I put it on my raised beds after I pull things in the fall and in addition to adding nitrogen to the soil it also keeps the soil alive with bacteria and worms. If you leave the soil bare most of the living organisms leave or die and you have to start all over again next year. Now I just pull the cover crop off in the spring and have soil that is ready to plant.
My concern about planting grasses or clover is that if you want your garden back for crops again next year, you’re not going to want plants that form rhizome mats taking over the joint. I’d be tempted to put in a whole crop of legumes to help with nitrogen-fixing, and other than that just leave it alone. I read somewhere that there is a new school of thought in crop growing that turning over the soil every year is actually a bad idea - that it encourages weed growth and wears out the soil faster; better to just make holes where you want plants and that’s it.
I use Dixie Reseeding crimson clover. It fixes nitrogen and blooms beautifully. I now have healthy bee and butterfly populations and my fruit trees and vegetable garden are much improved.
I have never seen a no-till garden that was worth having, by the way.
I think there’s a difference between just tilling/turning over soil every year as opposed to incorporating a cover crop; the latter improves tilth/organic content in addition to whatever nitrogen fixing might occur.
What you plant will depend in part on climate. These folks carry seed of a variety of cover crops.
Ah, there you go - I probably wasn’t remembering the whole story. My garden soil got very hard this year; I’m pretty sure it needs a lot more organics in it.
If you do rye grass, make it annual, not perennial rye.
How big of an area? Sun? Shade?
20 by 25 ft. sun half the day, shade the other half
Add some worm castings when you turn your cover crop, whatever you decide to go with. I would probably plant clover.