Fighting Weeds with Weeds - Best Cover Crops [Gardening]
Included in this article, I am sharing some #original flower photos from my garden, to showcase a couple of useful cover crop plants in the garden. Enjoy!
Two common weeds that are excellent to consider growing as a cover crop in the garden near your vegetables are White Clover and Hairy Vetch. Seeds can be purchased in most farm supply stores and from online retailers.
#Clover and #Vetch are both #legumes, and known for being excellent #nitrogen fixers. They have the unique ability to absorb nitrogen from the air, and store it under the #soil, through action of bacteria on the #roots.
Both Vetch and Clover will attract many honeybees and many other pollinators into the garden area.
The delicate Vetch flowers are easy to appreciate. Vetch grows long slender tendrils of vines.
Vetch is commonly grown next to tomatoes and cold weather crops like Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts, because they will suppress weeds from growing on the soil by providing low shade, and also supply a boost of nitrogen.
Cuttings break down quickly, and makes a good ground cover mulch, providing added nutrition to the soil. Vetch is also high in #phosphorus.
Additionally, vetch roots provide erosion control, aiding streams and rivers by preventing run-off during storms and rain showers.
Roots will hold together the soil structure, and the leaves will cushion the rainwater from compacting the soil. Every gardener wants to have light and fluffy soil, and vetch will help make that happen.
Clover continues to make new leaves and roots to feed the soil so other plants can grow. It suppresses weeds by shading the soil.
The bees will thank you for planting clover. Especially the slow moving bumblebees that enjoy staying low to the ground. Clovers will always stay a manageable height. They are considered a walk-able crop, because they are undamaged by shoe traffic. Try walking barefoot on soft, cool, wet clovers on a hot day. Its a great way to cool off and relax.
Add clover to the lawn to enjoy a greener, cooler lawn with less bare spots. It saves energy, because it doesn't have to be mowed as much.
Clover is a great cover crop to have growing in the lawn, as it will help the lawn stay green in the hottest months of the year. The low leaves will prevent moisture from quickly evaporating from the soil.
Cover crops can be mowed down or pruned at any time to mulch the soil, to provide a quick boost of nitrogen to all nearby plants growing in the soil.
Information Source: American Meadows - Why Plant Vetch as a Cover Crop
Thanks for viewing my post. It is my pleasure to share my garden with you.
Bonsai!
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Just a heads up:
Vicia spp. aka Common Vetch, Hairy Vetch, Narrow leafed vetch, purple vetch, broad beans is poisonous to chickens, horses, humans. The seeds contain beta-cyano-L-alanine.
From Cornell: http://poisonousplants.ansci.cornell.edu/php/plants.php?action=display&ispecies=horses
I have used white clover for cover crop, but avoided the vetch as there are chickens and horses in the immediate area.
Thanks for the heads up. The article I read said only Crown Vetch is poisonous to animals.
I figured Cornell University would be a good source, so that's why I put the link in. I'd heard the vetch was poisonous here in New England off and on, but someone posted the link to Cornell's site recently.
great, informative post. love the vetch photos such pretty, delicate flowers.
Great info. I'll have to get some vetch seeds soon. We use buckwheat cow pea, clover, alfalfa and austrian peas as cover quite quite readily, but we'll have to give hairy vetch a go. Thanks for sharing.
https://steemit.com/@goldenoakfarm/re-creativetruth-fighting-weeds-with-weeds-best-cover-crops-gardening-20180823t092109029z
Just repeating this helpful comment, since you were interested in growing it. Cornell claims hairy vetch seeds contain chemicals that are poisonous to animals.
The clover is a good cover for the soil and they have some good leaves too.
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