Dumb question about cover crops

[cookiesdaddy]

Please excuse this stupid question - what is the difference between cover crop and weed? My garden beds and walkways get automatic replants of a variety of weeds every winter, most are buttercups I think. Now if I just cut them and till them under, or just leave on the beds as mulch ... how is this different from buying the cover crop seeds and plant them yourself? Doesn't weed root hold the soil together just like cover crops? What are the benefits of using specific types of seeds for cover crops?

I saw some videos of people growing cover crops and they seem to go to flower ... shouldn't they worry about flower and then seeds that will overtake their garden?

Sorry ... told you it's a dumb question!

 

[buckabucka]

Full disclosure, -I don't really know anything about cover crops. I think the idea is to till the crop in before it goes to seed. With weeds that you didn't plant, they'd all be maturing at different rates, and there would be weed seeds spread. I would think weeds are better than eroding soil though. I'm sure someone with experience will have a better answer!

 

[seedcorn]

A cover crop is selected for that will give you green manure (so will weeds) but won't go to seed (weeds do) so that you don't keep fighting it over and over and over.......
the preferred cover crops grow in fall, hibernate in winter and restart when weather breaks thus keeping weeds from having a chance to start.
All a weed is is a plant growing in wrong place.

 

[thistlebloom]

What Seed said, and also some cover crops offer different things. Mustards to break up the soil, vetch and other legumes for fixing nitrogen.

 

[digitS']

Cover crops should be manageable. The responses are all saying that. Two neighbors have buttercup in their yards. One complains every year about it showing up densely in her lawn. Another doesn't care that it's competing with his raspberries, I guess.

I struggle to keep it out of that corner of the garden where it has encroached. It isn't terrible but develops quite a root system.

Some "weeds" got their start as cover crops. There is a story about bindweed being a cover crop for orchards, back in the early years. I'm not sure if they could have picked a more troublesome weed! Less of a problem but I've wondered if black medick may have been once used as a ground cover.

You can get into scheduled growing of ground covers while still using the ground for garden crops through much of the season. They can make a real contribution to soil fertility and tilth without all the schlepping around by the gardener of many other choices.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

In this California drought I feel guilty every time I water my garden so I am only growing a few salad plants. 90% of my garden is going untended. Hopefully letting it revert to nature will increase my predator population when I can reclaim it. The biggest drawback is that some of the weeds are beggar lice so whenever I go into the "native" area I have to spend a few minutes picking them off when I go into the house. The predator wasps like it when it flowers but those seeds with their grappling hook ends can be a PITA, especially when they get in your socks. There are several plants with seeds that stick called beggar lice. The one I have is Bidens Pilosa, labeled F in the picture.

 

[jasonvivier]

You can also grow living mulches as cover crops. These are typically not tilled into the soil but are allowed to live. Many times they are mowed and in the case of nitrogen fixers would then release said nitrogen at a predictable time more or less.

I'll grow living mulches in food forest gardens after intensive mulching. Mulching the forest starts with the mulching of grasses and herbaceous plants, then woody plants, then ultimately a living mulch/ground cover of some sort planted to provide a specific outcome. In many cases that outcome is defined as phytoaccumulation, nitrogen fixation, or various other topics.

Peas are a good cover crop in many places because they will self seed. More so Tom Thumb peas which self seed in my zone but that don't require a trellis. Basically free peas every year that fix nitrogen and start to shade the soil in early spring.

 

[journey11]

While a weed can cover and hold the soil in place from erosion, a cover crop is a plant chosen for its specific benefit and use. Legume cover crops will fix nitrogen in your soil, those and some not legumes like buckwheat also add humus and green manure to the soil when tilled under. Others like annual winter wheat or rye will root very deeply, as much as 3' to 5' below the soil surface and pull up trace minerals and also aerate the soil so that your vegetable crop can put its roots down further. Some also choke out competitors or have an alleopathic effect, chemically preventing other weeds from germinating. Depending on what you need it to do, there is a right cover crop for your situation. Your county ag extension is a good place to ask advice on what to use and what does well in your area.

 

[Smart Red]

Yes, what they said above. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. If you ask, you learn and that's one of the great aspects of this group.

As mentioned above, a weed is nothing more than a plant growing where it is not wanted. I know of a wildlife preserve that treasures its poison ivy patches as great food for certain migrating birds. Me? Poison ivy gets poisoned.

 

[hoodat]

When I can water more frequently than I can now I always have part of my garden in red clover. It's a dual purpose plant for me. The greens are cut for my rabbits. If I have a surplus it becomes hay and when the patch begins to thin out I turn it under.