My favorite cover crops of all are the Southern peas ( Vigna unguiculata) because, quite frankly, I like to eat them. Southern peas enrich soil while also producing edibles. It is the most winter hardy and forgiving of different soil types and makes an excellent cool-season cover.
Of the vetches, the hardiest and most stalwart may be hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa). Hairy vetch is a hardy nitrogen-fixer with swaths of pretty purple flowers. While not as showy as the crimson clover, it is very drought- and rust-resistant and can produce a prodigious amount of nitrogen-rich plant matter. ‘Silver River’ is a recently introduced variety of white sweet clover from Texas A&M University that is beloved by bees. The deep red flower heads, which are 2–to-3-inch-long brushes, give a lush, velvety appearance when a whole field or garden bed is in bloom. For sheer color, crimson clover is incredible. My favorites are crimson clover ( Trifolium incarnatum) and ‘Silver River’ sweet clover ( Melilotus albus). Photo: Bob Bjork, USDAĬlovers are versatile, reliable, and make excellent fall or spring cover crops.
Crimson clover is aptly named, with bright, eye-catching red flowers. Excellent cover crops for the Southern Plains region include clovers, vetches, and peas. If your vegetable garden isn’t producing the way it used to, or you simply want a good way to keep down weeds during the winter or summer fallow season, try planting a cover crop and then turning it into the soil. Cover CropsĬover crops are long familiar to farmers and ranchers, but even home gardeners (both ornamental and vegetable) can benefit from them. Trees return nitrogen more gradually as their feeder roots (with the associated nitrogen-fixing nodules) die off and are replaced as part of their natural life cycle. But even nitrogen-fixing plants that aren’t chopped and dropped regularly, such as trees, still return nitrogen to the soil. Some nitrogen-fixing plants are used as cover crops and are incorporated back into the soil through chopping, mowing, or tilling, which provides a large boost of nitrogen at once. Nitrogen-fixing plants, most of which are members of the legume family, are able to “fix” nitrogen from the atmosphere through a symbiotic relationship with specialized bacteria on their roots. Whether you have a front-yard garden the size of a postage stamp or a 100-acre hayfield, the use of nitrogen-fixing plants in your landscape can boost your soil fertility.