TOPIC: Planting cover crop and perennials

Planting Cover Crops

Green manure is a crucial component of soil improvement, particularly

in newly constructed garden plots. Green manure is sown early in the growing
season in well-established vegetable or flower gardens to enrich the soil and
smother weeds. Plant warm-season veggies, bedding plants, or perennials
grown in containers after harvesting. One or two crops of the heat-tolerant
buckwheat or beans and ryegrass, rapeseed, or oats are planted while making
a new garden bed. Turn over the dead plant matter in the late fall or spring,
and then grow flowers or vegetables within the new, better bed.

Weeds are less common because the soil has more organic matter and
helpful microbes. Green manures may contribute organic matter to the ground,
stop soil erosion, and maintain the garden free of weeds. Plants should be
removed once they blossom to prevent weeds from self-seeding. once the green
manure does not die over the winter, wait two weeks before planting or
sedating it.

Cover crops grow densely together in gardens, creating a living mulch.

They assist in reducing soil splash as well as erosion, as well as weed growth.
When a gardener incorporates cover crops into the soil to add organic matter
and nutrients, they are called "green manures." Legumes such as vetch, clover,
beans, and peas; grasses like annual ryegrass or oats; rapeseed, winter wheat,
winter rye; and buckwheat are examples of green animal waste (McKenzie,
2018).

Benefits

Cover crops provide as a source of green manure as well as organic

matter, act as a mulch, control moisture, attract pollinators, aid in weed or
pest management, and are utilized for grazing or fodder. The amount of
nitrogen added or absorbed by cover crops depends on the kind.

Types Of Cover Crops

According to their characteristics and potential uses, there are three

primary categories: grasses, legumes, and broadleaf non-legumes. Most of the
time, they do many tasks at once, including grazing, avoiding erosion, and
enhancing soil quality.

Grasses are annual grains, including oats, rye, corn, wheat, buckwheat,
and barley. They produce wastes that are simple to handle and develop rather
quickly. Their sturdy, erosion-resistant root systems have the appearance of
fibrous threads. They cannot fix air nitrogen, but they acquire soil nitrogen
through symbiosis alongside Azospirillum regarding nutrients.

As nitrogen-fixing cover crops, legumes are well known for enhancing the
soil's nitrogen content. Their robust taproot system helps combat unwanted
undersurface compaction when plants grow large. Additionally, a larger plant
can fix more nitrogen than a smaller one. Red and white clover, cowpeas,
alfalfa, hairy vetch, and fava beans are a few examples of legumes.

Broadleaf non-legume plants provide green manure, retain the soil in

place, and absorb nitrogen from the ground. They usually pass away in the
harsh winter temperatures, necessitating no further termination. However,
non-legumes applied as fall cover crops ought to be treated for weed control
purposes before seed settlement. Brassicas, forage radishes, turnips,
marigolds, mustards, and other plants fall within this category.

Perennial Plants

Perennials are plants that can survive at least three growing seasons
(typically, especially in St. Louis, as the bulbs need to be planted in the fall to
produce plants that bloom in the spring) (n.d, 2018).

According to the Britannica Dictionary, perennials live for several years

and often produce new herbaceous growth from a portion that endures from
one growing season to the next. They comprise all gymnosperms (cone-bearing
plants), trees, and shrubs, as well as a few herbaceous (nonwoody) flowering
plants and vegetative ground covers. Most garden perennials only bloom
briefly, but with care throughout the growing season, they provide the garden
landscape with a leafy presence and form. Bellflowers, chrysanthemums,
columbines, dahlias, hollyhocks, phlox, pinks, poppies, and primroses are
popular perennial herbaceous plants. All trees, blueberries, cranberries,
asparagus, grapes, alfalfa, rhubarb, chives, mint, and other commercially
significant crops are perennials and yield a crop for a few years.
 As stated by Marie Iannotti,

“A few perennials are considered to be short-lived, lasting only two

to three years. Rose campion is a short-lived perennial, but because it self-
seeds so readily, it appears to live much longer. Other perennials, like
peonies, have been known to last for more than 100 years, though it may
take several seasons before they establish.”

To put it briefly, perennial plants are those that can't survive as

long as the others.

Recognition if the plant is a Perennial.

● Compared to annual plants, perennial, perennials bloom for less days.

● Annuals grow faster than perennials.
● Compared to annual plants, perennial, perennials may have less showy
early-year flowers.
● Another option is to have an evergreen perennial that does not lose its
leaves in the winter like a herbaceous perennial.

References/Citations

What’s the Difference Between Perennial and Annual Plants? (2018, April 2).
Retrieved from
https://www.gardenheights.com/single-post/2018/03/30/whats-the-
difference-between-perennial-and-annual-plants

Cherlinka, V., Elijah, R., Petryk, V., Sergieieva, K., Ivanchuk, N., & Lelechenko,
L. (2020, September 29). Cover Crops: Types, Benefits, And Tips On How
To Use. Retrieved from https://eos.com/blog/cover-crops/

What Is Perennial and What Are the Different Types? (2023, March 28).
Retrieved from https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-a-perennial-flower-
or-plant-1402789