Greater Dallas Organic Garden Club ...digging in Dallas since 1993

Cover Crops

Flying over the west central portion of the country, I could not help but notice the difference between the green irrigated crops and the disturbed brown soil in adjacent fields. Flashbacks to the dust bowl entered my mind immediately followed by the importance of keeping the ground covered, when a few crop circles appeared with a slightly patchy but green surface. At a macro level, cover crops save topsoil from blowing away and can help with nutrient deficiencies as well as trapping soil moisture and harboring beneficial microbes. The principle of keeping the ground covered works in our much smaller gardens as well.

Weeds are nature’s answer to bare ground. If the soil receives enough sunlight and a few drops of water, opportunistic seeds lying dormant are activated and can quickly establish themselves. These shade the ground and put down roots to bind the soil to prevent loss by wind or flood.

Instead of cursing the weeds, I use them as a sign that there may be too much open real estate or bare soil for them to ignore. Alternatives to weeds are plentiful.

1. Mulch - shredded hardwood or Texas cedar mulch applied over the ground 2-4 inches deep can save a lot of weeding. I prefer to apply this in the late winter before most of my perennials wake up so I have fewer obstacles to mulch around.

2. Leaves - instead of stressing about raking and bagging leaves every fall (and spring for those of us with live oaks), why not let them stay where they fall - within reason. They can be mulched into turf grass with a mulching mower and spread around planting beds as free mulch. If the leaves are large or many inches deep, consider chopping them up with a mower and then spreading them throughout your yard. Free fertilizer!

3. Cover crops - legumes and some wheat can be grown as cover crops in your vegetable garden to help fix nitrogen in the soil for future crops. Once you are ready to plant your edibles, chop then down and let them mulch the soil. This has benefits above and below the soil line.

4. Living mulch - mulching is not my favorite gardening chore. Taking cues from the weeds, I have started planting ground covers such as sedums, ajuga, lambs ears, sedges, juncus, and natives like frog fruit. Even low-growing shrubs like blue rug junipers, prostrate plum yews, St. John’s wort, and coralberry are great at spreading and covering large areas of ground. Less mulching for me!

What are some of your favorite living mulches?

Our September meeting will feature Stan Aten enlightening us about bulbs to be planted in the fall. The great news is that most bulbs push right through living mulches. This month, you can invest in the future - perennial bulbs and fewer weeds. Best September ever!

Happy gardening!

Davene

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