Five Best Cover Crops for Your Garden

In late July, the first garden beds begin to free up, for example, after garlic and onions, so the question of sowing cover crops arises. Green manures can improve soil health and restore fertility without significant costs. An agronomist has named the best fall cover crops and explained why you shouldn«t leave soil empty.

Why sow cover crops

Cover crops, or green manures, are an excellent way to restore soil and make it fertile. Garlic and onions are usually the first to be harvested, but you shouldn«t leave the soil empty. It»s already depleted after yielding a crop, and rain, weeds, and wind will cause further damage.

«Beds shouldn»t stay empty, so we sow cover crops as soon as they«re free. You can also add potassium before digging,» advises Lyudmila Shubina, an agronomist and candidate of agricultural sciences. «Before winter, cover crops should be dug into the soil so they decompose.»

Cover crops restore soil structure, fertilize it, and improve its health.

When to sow cover crops

Beds with spring cover crops are usually occupied all season, which is often inconvenient, especially if the garden plot isn«t very large. In this case, crops that quickly gain green mass come to the rescue. They are called fall cover crops.

»You can sow mustard, rapeseed, vetch, rye, and oilseed radish now. They«ll produce good green mass. Rapeseed might even flower if the weather is warm. But phacelia and rye are better left for spring—they won»t have enough time before the snow,« the specialist noted.

If there»s no time for digging in the fall, you can leave the green mass under the snow, but it«s still better to dig it into the soil.

White mustard

White mustard is an excellent cover crop because it germinates and grows very quickly. Seedlings can appear 3–4 days after sowing.

«White mustard tolerates frosts down to -5 degrees Celsius (23°F), so it will definitely survive September,» the agronomist noted. «And the seeds are inexpensive, so you can sow it densely. But keep in mind that after mustard, you shouldn»t plant other cruciferous vegetables—cabbage, radish, or daikon.«

The plant repels wireworms and cleans the soil of late blight and rot. It»s perfect for sowing in beds where garlic and onions were harvested.

Rapeseed

As a fall cover crop, you should sow winter rapeseed. It«s a cruciferous crop, so it»s not suitable for beds with cabbage, radish, daikon, and other such crops.

«Rapeseed usually manages to flower in the fall. In terms of fertilizer value, it can easily outperform even manure,» emphasized Lyudmila Shubina. «Its roots are deep, so they loosen the soil well.»

Rapeseed can also improve soil health against root rot and fusarium wilt, as well as repel wireworms.

Vetch (field pea)

Winter vetch is an excellent legume crop that enriches the soil with nitrogen and beneficial bacteria. Legumes convert phosphorus into a form more accessible to plants.

However, field pea is very demanding of moisture, so beds with it will need regular watering. The crop also doesn«t tolerate frost well.

Oats

Oats are inexpensive and improve the structure of heavy, clay soils. The plant«s powerful root system breaks up dense clods. It can also suppress root rot and fungal infections.

«After oats, you can plant anything. That»s a good advantage, but digging it in isn«t so easy,» noted Lyudmila Shubina. «Also, this crop is quite attractive to wireworms and isn»t suitable for potato fields.«

Oilseed radish

Another cruciferous crop that grows quickly and makes the soil fertile. Oilseed radish has a very long root that easily breaks up soil clods and makes it more friable.

It germinates very quickly, suppresses weeds, even the nearly invincible couch grass. Oilseed radish improves soil health against rot and scab pathogens. Its green mass decomposes excellently, enriching the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

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