Recently I happened to by driving by our property and noticed a huge change, one that I hadn’t planned. Suddenly a good portion of the front of the land was cleared. It was something we were going to have to pay for eventually when installing the water line for our future home but we didn’t hire anyone to do the work. The local electrical company was there clearing the area beneath the power lines that go to our neighbors house. Some of those lines also go over our property and they cleared that area as well.
As it turns our the land clearing is really a good thing for us. We were going to need to hired a land clearing company to knock down the area in order to trench the water line up the hill. A forestry mulcher service would probably have charged over $1000 for the same area that the power company cleared. Most of the trees they cleared were nothing special. Quite a few of the trees were actually invasive pear trees that had self sown. They also cleared a lot of blackberry brambles, wild grape, sumac, and other plants that are not necessarily desirables.
The power company did us a major favor. Fortunately since it is late in the season most of those plants probably won’t put on a huge amount of growth but one thing I am concerned about is dormant weed growth. Weed seeds can remain dormant in the soil for a very long time and when exposed to light and water will germinate and start to grow. I don’t want that to happen right away. I have plans for the area in the future and those plans need that area to stay under control. That’s why I’m considering planting a cover crop over the area. Cover crops are great for weed suppression and help to add organic matter to the soil. If I can keep that area from exploding in weeds I’ll have an easier time putting together the garden I have in mind for this spot. We’ll call that the future front driveway garden for now.
What Cover Crops Do
As I mentioned a moment ago cover crops have a few purposes. They can act as weed suppressants by limiting the light that reaches the soil surface. Those plants that require light to germinate don’t get enough light and stay dormant.
Cover crops also area great at creating biomass which will act as a green manure for the soil. When those materials die and break down they will be absorbed into the soil and help to improve how much organic matter is in the soil. Depending on the cover crop they may essential nutrients like nitrogen. Legumes are well known for their amazing ability to fix nitrogen and pass it back into the soil as their organic matter decomposes.
Cover Crops I’m Considering Using
I love the idea of adding nutrients to the soil and in the spring one of the most beautiful things we see here in Tennessee is the Crimson clover in the fields. Farmers use clover as a cover crop for it’s nitrogen fixing ability especially in fields that have been depleted from growing corn and hay.
Another legume is the partridge pea. It’s actually a native plant that blooms with yellow flowers which are very attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds.
Annual rye grass is another choice I am considering. It forms a lush green grass that will eventually completely die back in the late spring and summer. It can be cut with a lawn mower or weed eater and would help to hold the soil in place. If you look in the photos you can see we have a bit of a slope and could have some erosion issues without something holding the soil in place.
Crimson clover is an ideal cover crop. Trifolium incarnatum. Non-GMO. Sow in fall or la… [More]
I will probably use a combination of those three cover crops (clover, partridge pea, and annual rye grass) to seed the side of our garden area and help with the erosion, weed suppression, and enrichment of the soil. This is only a temporary fix. When our house is built and construction is done I have other ideas for this new garden spot!
