Cover Crop Seeding Rates For Small Garden Beds And Raised Beds

Cover crops can help prevent erosion, improve soil structure and boost organic matter. They may also serve as habitat for beneficial insects while suppressing weed growth.

When selecting species for erosion control purposes, grasses like winter rye or oats provide excellent erosion protection; while legumes such as crimson clover or hairy vetch provide organic nitrogen enrichment.

Winter Rye

Winter rye is an ideal fall cover crop for vegetable growers, as its quick germination in cool soil protects against erosion while providing nitrogen-rich biomass. Unfortunately, its quick maturation process may interfere with spring planting plans.

To avoid this situation, plant winter rye with legumes such as hairy vetch or crimson clover that form nodules that cooperate with healthy soil bacteria to fix nitrogen in an efficient and timely fashion. Select a mix and termination method suitable to your garden schedule and climate conditions.

Oats

These fast-establishing cover crops quickly cover over weeds while adding biomass to the soil, while their fibrous roots reduce erosion and aerate the ground. Plus, any surplus nitrogen can be salvaged for future plantings!

Soil microorganisms need food sources in the soil in order to support plant growth and energy cycling, improving nutrient, water and energy cycling processes. For maximum effectiveness, combine with slower-establishing legumes such as hairy vetch or crimson clover.

Triticale

Cover crops can be added to vegetable rotations at various points during the year. They can be planted early fall for winter-grown cover, in late summer interseeded into an established cash crop or left as long-term fallow on fields temporarily out of vegetable production for an extended period.

Cover crop selection depends on what benefits are desired. For instance, legumes (clover, adaline mustard and hairy vetch) provide beneficial nitrogen fixation that enhances garden soils.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat can rapidly cover bare ground and protect it from erosion while simultaneously providing organic material and hosting nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Allow some buckwheat plants to flower to attract beneficial insects, but for most uses cut them back when they start blooming to prevent their seeds from dispersing into your garden.

Covers designed for raised beds used for vegetable and floral planting should not interfere with their growing seasons, nor host pathogens and pests that might compromise edible/floral gardens.

Austrian Winter Pea

Peas (Pisum Sativum) are fast-growing legumes that serve as living mulch in garden beds. Not only can they add organic matter and improve soil health, they can also reduce weeds while suppressing root-knot nematodes and fixing nitrogen.

Our WCS Garden Fall Cover Crop Mix contains winter rye, hairy vetch, alfalfa, oats, buckwheat, clover and Austrian Winter Pea, which will winter kill and provide a living mulch to sustain soil life through summer before being removed by heavy frost. It is ideal for wildlife food plots and pollinator attraction.

Flax

A mix designed to protect soil during summer heatwaves while providing pollinators and fixing nitrogen. Composed of buckwheat, flax, hairy vetch, Austrian winter pea, oats and oilseed radish.

Growing a strong cover crop stand requires consistent soil-to-seed contact and adequate moisture levels. Lightly dragging a tine rake over broadcasted seeds after broadcasting can improve soil-seed contact and moisture retention, producing mulch which can easily be integrated into garden soil in springtime before planting vegetables – or cover crops can even be added at different points along the vegetable rotation schedule.

Oilseed Radish

Many gardeners choose a combination of species when planting cover crops to maximize benefits, but even monoculture stands can offer many advantages that improve soil conditions.

Oil seed radish is an efficient crop that quickly takes hold, suppressing weeds and suppressing nematodes while producing large taproots to relieve compaction and enhance water infiltration.

Teff can tolerate light frost and can be planted either drilled, broadcast, or lightly integrated using tillage. Like buckwheat, teff provides a tarp-like mat that helps suppress weeds; however, unlike its cousin, teff does not fix nitrogen.

Yellow Mustard

If your goal is to replenish nitrogen in the soil, legumes like clover or hairy vetch may be ideal choices as cover crops. Their roots have bacteria which fix nitrogen from the air into pink root nodules which then return it as credits towards your next vegetable crop.

Avoid long-lasting broadleaf species that could turn into weed problems, and select a mix that winter kills in your region and that fits with your gardening goals for timing, termination and residue management.