How to Cover Crop: Techniques, Tips, and Tricks | Gardener's Path

12.06.2023 - 01:00 / gardenerspath.com / Lorna Kring

Are you looking to grow your garden in a smarter, more ecologically sound way? A way that reduces or eliminates the need for synthetic fertilizers, and is better for the environment and the soil food web?

It’s time to consider cover cropping. Part art and part science, it’s an environmentally friendly, rewarding way of providing your plants with natural fertilizers and nutrients, disease and pest management, and improved water penetration and retention.

Cover crops are also time savers, and they help gardeners to cut down on the tough manual work of erosion control, mulching, and weeding.

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It’s not just commercial farmers that benefit from this efficient soil management system – green manure is equally beneficial in small garden plots as well as the back forty!

This means you can make a real difference to both the health of your garden and the larger environment with the smart choice of cover cropping. It’s a natural for a happier garden and ecosystem!

Sound intriguing? Then kick back, relax, and join us for a look at the artful science of cover cropping – your garden and local biosphere will love this clean, chemical-free system.

Here’s everything we’ll cover:

Cover crops play a dynamic role in the farmer’s field as well as the home garden.

Typically planted between harvests or for winter protection, they’re temporary plants that provide nutrients for your vegetables and the soil they grow in.

But they also perform many other beneficial tasks throughout the season. The original term “cover crop” refers to their use as placeholders in