​Mid-summer is when most gardeners are harvesting the fruits of their labor and enjoying fresh seasonal produce, but it is also a great time to be thinking ahead about how to care for the soil your plants depend on to thrive. Soil health experts recommend planting cover crops as a way of caring for your soil and potentially increasing the nutrient density in the food you are growing!
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What are cover crops?
Cover crops are plants, grasses, legumes, and other forbs, grown primarily to protect the soil and benefit the successful growth of future crops. Some examples of common cover crops are: crimson clover, field peas and oats, buckwheat, sorghum sudangrass, and cereal rye.

Why cover crop?
Incorporating cover crops into your garden does so much more than meets the eye. To the casual observer, cover crops are simply covering what would be bare soil, but the real magic is happening underneath the surface! Some of the benefits of planting cover crops are:

1. Maintain soil health and productivity
2. Reduce erosion
3. Weed Suppression
4. Increased biodiversity
5. Minimize soil compaction
6. Break up soil compaction
7. Maintain or increase soil organic matter
8. Improve habitat for soil organisms
9. Natural source of nitrogen to companion or subsequent crops
10. Improve habitat for pollinators, beneficial organisms, or natural enemies of crop pests

Selection
Start with species that are easy to terminate in a small garden. Winter/field peas and oats “winterkill” which means they typically die after a period of freezing temperatures or frost, leaving you with no additional chores in the garden until it is time to plant in the spring!

How much cover crop seed do you need?
Marion County SWCD has a tool to help calculate the amount of cover crop you need for your space. You can find the information by visiting Soil Health - MCSWCD and navigating to “Cover Crops”, expanding the accordion to reveal the “Indiana Cover Crop Tool” link.

Planting
Although July 15th – September 15th should be ideal for cover crops like Crimson Clover and Peas and Oats, like all gardening, the best time is dependent on the weather. If you are close to July 15th and know you are going to have consistent rain for the week following planting, by all means, plant the seeds! If we are under a heat advisory until the week after September 15th, consider waiting until the weather cools down. In all cases, try to get your cover crops planted no later than October 1st.

If you already have your garden planted, you will need to “interseed” or “intercrop” with summer or fall vegetables. After weeding, create furrows approximately ½” to 1” deep in the ground, and lightly sprinkle your cover crop seed into the furrows. Then cover the seed with soil, thereby burying the seed. The cover crops will germinate between your plants and not present any issues to growth.

If you have open spaces or you are not concerned with cover crops taking space from your vegetables, you can also broadcast the seed evenly over your garden and rake it in. You may need to lightly cover the seeds with a light straw or other covering to deter birds from eating the seeds.

Management
If the weather is hot and dry after planting in the summer or early fall, then it may be necessary to water your cover crops to ensure good germination and growth. Otherwise, cover crops will grow well without much attention to water needs.

If planted too early, oats may produce a seed before they die due to frost. In this case, it is best to cut the tops of the oats off as they are flowering, but before they produce seed. Crimson Clover, Cereal Rye, and Hairy Vetch will not flower until sometime early to mid-spring. They will need to be cut down as they are flowering, but before seeding.

If they produce seed, it is likely best to cut and remove the plant to limit weedy issues in the garden. However, some gardeners are okay with this as a cover crop in the midst of their vegetables is not inherently bad. In fact, it can be beneficial.

Termination
Not all cover crops die over the winter like peas and oats. Some varieties will require you to take an extra step to terminate. There are several ways to terminate cover crops. The best method for many gardeners is the “cut and cover” method. For the greatest soil health benefits, cover crops are terminated when they are flowering. To terminate, cut down the cover crop with shears, a hedge trimmer, mower, etc., and cover with an opaque material like black plastic to stop photosynthesis. This will also help suppress early annual weeds.
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You can find a full list of cover crop species and how to terminate them in this Natural Resources Conservation Service document.

​Did you know bees are not the only pollinators in Indiana? Approximately 200,000 invertebrate species (bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, and flies) serve as pollinators, as well as about 1,000 species of vertebrates (birds, mammals, and reptiles), according to Pollinator Partnership. The services provided by native pollinators contribute to the productivity of crops as well as to the survival and reproduction of many native plants.

​So how can you get started planting for pollinators? Create a list of your favorite pollinators and pair them with their preferred food sources. We created a short list below to help you get started!

Before you purchase any of these plants, make sure they were not sprayed by the grower or nursery with insecticides of any kind. If you don’t know, ask and follow “trust but verify” by reaching out to grower directly when possible. ​