When the leaves start to paint warm hues on the landscape, it’s time for us gardeners to roll up our sleeves for the last time this year and do an autumn garden cleanup.
But what does autumn garden cleanup mean? In short, it’s the process of preparing your garden for winter. Just like preparing a child for bedtime by brushing their teeth, bathing them and putting on their PJs, we clear out dead plants from our garden, manage fallen leaves and protect it from cold weather damage.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the essential steps of autumn garden cleanup, from timing your efforts to sustainable practices that benefit both your garden and local wildlife.
Importance of an autumn garden cleanup
An autumn garden cleanup isn’t just an aesthetic matter but helps our garden to stay healthy for the seasons to come.
It prevents the overwintering of pests and diseases and improves soil health for the next growing season.
Additionally, an autumn cleanup enhances our garden’s appearance during the winter months.
And lastly, it will reduce our workload next spring.
Timing your autumn cleanup
It’s important to choose the right timing for your autumn cleanup. Starting too early may deprive beneficial insects of their habitat while starting too late may make cleaning up more difficult.
Roughly put, an autumn garden cleanup typically takes place between late September and early November. There is, however, no one-size-fits-all date, but it depends on the climate you live in:
Northern regions have earlier frost dates, starting in September to early October, while southern regions have their first frost later in the year, sometimes not before November or even December. In coastal areas, frost also comes late.
Also, growing seasons are shorter in northern areas and longer the nearer you get to the equator.
An additional factor is the altitude of our region: the higher we live, the earlier the first frost may come.
Knowing all that, we will want to start cleaning up our garden early in colder and/or wet climates. The warmer the climate we live in and the drier, the later we may leave the time to clean up.
Keep in mind, however, that these are general guidelines. Local weather patterns, microclimate variations, and specific plant needs should always be considered when determining the optimal timing for autumn garden cleanup.
Signs that indicate it’s time to begin
There are several signs that indicate it’s time to start a garden cleanup:
Nighttime temperatures consistently drop below 10 °C (50 °F).
The first frost date is approaching.
The leaves change colour and start to fall.
Annual plants finish their life cycle.
Perennials begin to die back.
Tasks for autumn garden cleanup
I always recommend a gradual approach over several weeks to cleaning up your garden. It’s way better than trying to do everything at once which will only lead to overwhelm. Besides, a longer cleanup time allows for a longer enjoyment of all those beautiful late-blooming plants.
Vegetable garden
Harvest late vegetables like beetroots, carrots, celery, parsnips and parsley roots.
Before the first frost, protect spinach and winter lettuce like lamb’s lettuce with a gardening mesh from the cold.
Remove late-season weeds before they set seed.
Add compost or well-rotted manure to your beds and work it in.
Plant garlic and winter onions to give them a headstart for next year’s harvest.
If you haven’t sowed cover plants in August or early September, cover the soil with mulch.
Orchard
Harvest the last fruits from the trees to avoid pests and diseases to overwinter and spread.
Remove and destroy any mummified fruits, that is dried, shriveled fruits that are still on the branches. Also, clean up fallen fruits to prevent disease spread.
Check for and remove pest egg masses or cocoons.
Trim dead, diseased or crossing branches from trees and shrubs. For the overall pruning of fruit trees and bushes, late winter is more recommendable.
If your area is prone to winter sunscald, consider whitewashing the tree trunks.
Rake fallen leaves and remove those with a disease. Use the remaining leaves as mulch, either under the trees or in the vegetable garden. You can also create a leave compost. The leaves will rot very fast and the compost is available in spring. Additionally, this compost heap will make a shelter for hedgehogs and insects.
Spread compost or well-rotted manure under fruit trees and shrubs. Make sure to avoid direct contact with the trunks.
Cover the soil beneath the trees and shrubs with mulch and make sure to extend the mulch to the trees’ drip line.
Ornamental garden
Remove spent annual flowers and compost any disease-free plant material.
Cut back the dead foliage of perennials but leave some stalks for wildlife habitat. Note that some plants, like ornamental grasses, can be left standing for winter interest and wildlife habitat as well.
If necessary, divide overcrowded perennials.
Remove any weeds and compost them.
Apply compost to your flower beds.
Spread mulch around perennials and shrubs and give sensitive plants an insulation with extra mulch.
Remember, a thorough fall cleanup doesn’t mean creating a sterile environment. Leaving some areas slightly untamed can provide crucial winter habitats for beneficial insects and wildlife. That way we can strike a balance between garden health and ecological responsibility.
Protecting sensitive plants
Depending on your hardiness zone, some plants require special protection to survive cold winters. In my garden, for example, I need to care especially for Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano, as well as the artichokes in the greenhouse. I mulch the plants with leaves, hay or straw. Then, I put straw onto them so that they are covered with it and fix that with twigs. You can also use protective wrapping made of non-woven material or jute. Do not use plastic.
During winter, especially when it’s wet, you should check the plants for rotting. In that case, remove the mulch and protective layers and replace them with new, dry material.
Tool maintenance
Thoroughly clean all your garden tools by removing any dirt and debris. Soak the tools in warm, soapy water, then scrub the dirt off and rinse. Let them dry well.
If necessary, sharpen your tools with a file or a sharpening stone.
Repair any damage (if possible), tighten loose screws, bolts and nuts and replace any broken or worn parts.
Apply vegetable or machine oil to the metal parts to prevent rust and keep them moving smoothly.
For wooden handles, use linseed oil to protect and nourish the wood
Afterwards, store your tools in a dry space for example a garden shed, a garage or the basement, to prevent moisture build-up.
Conclusion
A garden cleanup in autumn is more than just tidying up: it’s an investment in the health and vitality of our garden.
By removing spent plants, protecting sensitive specimens and using fallen leaves as mulch or compost, we not only prevent pests and diseases from overwintering but also create a fertile environment for the next growing season.
Your garden has given you months of joy and abundance; now is the time to return the favour by preparing it for its winter rest. So, embrace the crisp autumn air, put on your gardening gloves, and tackle your autumn cleanup with enthusiasm.
Happy gardening, and here’s to a productive autumn cleanup and a glorious garden in the year to come!
Garlic is such a great vegetable! It’s a star in the kitchen, it’s healthy AND it’s easy to cultivate. Don’t believe me? Then read on: in this post, I’ll not only give you an overview of the different types of garlic but show you exactly how and when to plant garlic. Following these steps an abundant harvest is inevitable!
Garlic varieties
Garlic is divided into two groups: hardneck and softneck. Hardnecks develop a flower stalk (a “scape”), softnecks don’t.
Softneck varieties usually have a milder flavour, are better suited for warmer climates and can be stored for a prolonged time.
Hardneck garlic, on the other hand, has a more intense flavour and a shorter shelf life. It’s generally better for colder climates.
I always cultivate both varieties.
How to find good garlic varieties for your garden
It seems easy to buy some garlic in the supermarket and plant it in your garden. However, supermarket garlic usually is a softneck variety and comes from sites in very warm climates. If your climate is cold, however, store-bought cloves won’t grow very well in your garden.
Instead, look for local seed manufacturers. Their cloves are well-adjusted to your climate. Or you have friends who already cultivate garlic and will give you a few cloves for planting.
I always set the largest bulbs aside and use their cloves for planting. That way, I develop and gather my own garlic cloves that are perfectly adjusted to my garden conditions.
Preparing your garden for planting
First of all, select an area that gets at least 6 – 8 hours of sunlight full sunlight per. Also, drainage should be good to prevent waterlogging, which can cause rot.
The soil should not be too light. A healthy loamy soil is best for garlic as it retains moisture well.
Garlic doesn’t like weeds (who does?), so make sure that the bed you want to cultivate garlic in is weed-free.
Also, mixing in compost or rotten manure won’t hurt. It’ll help to improve the soil structure, drainage and fertility.
Planting garlic: step-by-step
If you follow this step-by-step guide, you’ll be rewarded with an abundance of garlic next summer!
When to plant garlic
There are two possibilities when to plant garlic:
Spring
You can plant garlic cloves in March / April. They will develop fine bulbs, albeit small ones that you can harvest in the same year.
Autumn
Planting garlic cloves at the beginning to mid-October will give them a headstart. They’ll grow until it becomes too cold, overwinter and restart growing in spring. That way, the bulbs will be much larger and that’s why I recommend planting garlic in autumn.
Autumn vs. spring planting
As I said before, you can plant garlic in spring as well, but the bulbs will stay smaller and they cannot be stored for long. Also, you’ll be busy in spring with all the gardening tasks.
Planting garlic in autumn not only makes your life easier but also gives you a much more substantial harvest with a prolonged storage time.
How to plant garlic
The easiest and most common way is to break up the bulb and stick the single cloves with the tip facing upwards about 4 – 6 cm (1,5 – 2,5 inches) into the soil. Loosen the soil a bit before planting, for example with a garden fork. A dibble can help with preparing the holes into which the cloves are to be set.
Plant garlic in rows with a distance of 15 cm between cloves and 25 cm between rows.
Break up the bulb so that you get out the single cloves.
Always plant garlic with the tip facing upwards
Garlic is a great companion for many other plants, for example tomatoes and strawberries but also flowers.
Watering and mulching
A great advantage of planting garlic in autumn is that usually, the soil is very moist. That way, we don’t have to water the cloves at all. If it’s very dry when planting, water the rows with the freshly set cloves.
I don’t water my garlic but depending on your climate it may be necessary to do so.
If you’ve followed me for some time you know that I’m a huge fan of mulching. When you’ve planted your garlic, I recommend mulching it to protect the cloves from extreme cold and keep the soil moist and weed-free. However, garlic can develop fungal and viral diseases when mulched too thickly, so make sure that the mulch layer is not thicker than about 3 – 5 cm.
Caring tips for spring
When the air grows warmer in spring, remove the mulch from your garlic so that the soil can warm up.
Remove weeds as they will compete with the garlic for nutrients and water.
If the soil is compacted, gently loosen it around the garlic plants to improve drainage.
Keep the garlic well-watered, especially as it gets warmer, but don’t over-water it.
A healthy dose of a nitrogen-emphasized fertiliser, for example stinging nettle manure, provides nutrients in spring.
Keep an eye out for pests and diseases like thrips or mould. Remove ill plants immediately to keep pests and diseases at bay.
These beauties are the stakes. If you let them on the plant, they’ll burst into bloom which is quite a pretty sight. However, if you want to get large bulbs, I recommend cutting them off.
If you cultivate hardneck garlic, remove the scapes (i.e. flower stalks) as they form so that all the energy goes into the bulb and thus enhances growth. You can use the scapes in your kitchen just like garlic. I like them best in a light cream sauce on freshly cooked pasta…
When the soil has warmed up and it gets warmer and drier, put on a thin layer of mulch again to keep the plants moist and weeds at bay.
Harvesting and storing garlic
You can harvest garlic continually, beginning in late spring, and use the whole plant, including the green stems, in the kitchen. Usually, however, garlic is harvested 8 – 10 months after planting, depending on your variety and climate.
That gives us a harvesting period of late June to early July for hardnecks and mid to late July for softnecks.
How do you know when garlic is ready to be harvested?
You know that the garlic is ready for harvesting when half to two-thirds of the leaves have turned yellow and the bulbs are still closed. If you wait too long, the bulbs may open up which reduces their storage time.
To harvest, loosen the soil around the garlic with a garden fork and pull out the bulbs. Clean up the garlic right on the bed by carefully removing the outer skin which is usually already very loose. That way there will be no soil on the bulbs and they are ready to cure.
For curing, put the garlic into bundles that you hang in a dry place with good air circulation for about two weeks. This drying process is essential for storage. If you have a canopy at your house or garage or even a balcony that’s protected from rain, that’s an ideal place.
Storing garlic for long-term use
When your garlic bulbs are dry, you can twist them into a plait and hang them in your kitchen. Another method is to remove the stalks and store them in airy baskets. The best storage place for garlic is dry, cool and dark with good air circulation. In these conditions, garlic may be stored for up to 8 months.
So come and join the garlic-planting club! This comprehensive guide shows you all the steps for a large garlic plant next summer. Envious stares from the neighbours included.
Have you already cultivated garlic? Share your experiences (and further tips) in the comments.
In July it’s time to sow many vegetables we want to harvest later in the year. In this post, I’ve created an overview to show you what to do in the garden and what vegetables to sow (indoors and outdoors) and plant in July.
What vegetables to sow indoors in July
You can sow the following plants indoors to plant them out later:
Here’s a list of plants you can plant out into your vegetable garden in July.
Broccoli Brussel’s sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Kale Kohlrabi Leek Lettuce Zucchini
General garden tasks in July
Mulch all plants larger than 10 cm / 4 inches. Mulching means you cover the soil with organic material like grass clippings, leaves, straw or wood chips. By mulching, you make sure that less water evaporates. Additionally, mulch suppresses weeds and thus your “weeding time” will be reduced considerably 🙂
Harvest whatever is ready in your garden. July is also the perfect time to harvest and dry herbs for later use.
Fertilise strong uptakers like cabbage plants, tomatoes, pumpkins and zucchini that were planted in May. Ideally, you have given them basic fertilisation when you planted them. Now it’s time for maintenance fertilisation. For that purpose, you can either use fertiliser from animals, fertiliser from plants or even fertiliser from humans.
Still not enough garden talk? Then these posts may interest you:
June is a time for harvesting in the vegetable garden. But if you think the time of sowing and planting is over: think again! If you want to harvest fresh produce all year round, you must sow and plant continually. To get an overview of what to do in your garden, I’ve prepared a list of vegetables to sow and plant in June.
What vegetables to sow indoors in June
You can sow the following plants indoors to plant them out later:
Broccoli Kohlrabi Beetroot Cauliflower Red cabbage White cabbage Lettuce Zucchini
What vegetables to sow outdoors in June
Sow these plants directly into your garden in June:
Carrot Swiss chard Parsnips Beetroot Kohlrabi Lettuce Radishes Bush and runner beans Rocket salad Spinach
What vegetables to plant in June
Here’s a list of plants you can plant out into your vegetable garden in June.
Red cabbage White cabbage Savoy cabbage Kohlrabi Broccoli Brussel’s sprout Lettuce Leek Cucumber Tomatoes Zucchini
General garden tasks in June
Mulch all plants larger than 10 cm / 4 inches. Mulching means you cover the soil with organic material like grass clippings, leaves, straw or wood chips. By mulching, you make sure that less water evaporates. Additionally, mulch suppresses weeds and thus your “weeding time” will be reduced considerably 🙂
Harvest whatever is ready in your garden. June is also the perfect time to harvest and dry herbs for later use.
Fertilise strong uptakers like cabbage plants, tomatoes, pumpkins and zucchini that were planted in May. Ideally, you have given them basic fertilisation when you planted them. Now it’s time for maintenance fertilisation. For that purpose, you can either use fertiliser from animals, fertiliser from plants or even fertiliser from humans.
Still not enough garden talk? Then these posts may interest you:
To put it bluntly, this is certainly the best and most useful tip of this whole fertiliser series. As far as fertilisers are concerned, urine is the non-plus-ultra. It contains everything your plants need, it’s free and it’s always available. When you complement this gold water with mull from manure and compost, your garden is well provided for.
Advantages of urine
Urine is an extraordinary raw material for maintenance fertilisation during the growing season. It’s rich in nitrogen, works fast and is produced right “on-site”. An average adult urinates three to seven times per day and thus releases about 2 litres of urine.
With a person’s annual urine production, 50 – 350 square metres of cropland can be fertilised. A general recommendation is to fertilise with one to two litres of urine per square metre during cultivation season. The exact amount depends on the plants you grow and the soil you grow them in. In any case, an amount of 200 ml of concentrated urine per square metre should not be exceeded.
Urine is also a great compost accelerator. Compost sometimes consists of so many carbon-rich materials that the decomposition of leaves and dry twigs for example is affected. In that case, you should try to achieve a balanced ratio between carbon and nitrogen. Urine with its high nitrogen content can help with that. Put some urine onto the compost and thus accelerate the composting process.
Nutrient content of urine
One litre of urine contains about 7.4 g nitrogen, 0.6 g phosphorus and 1.6 g potassium. That said, urine has relatively much nitrogen and relatively little potassium. For that reason, it is especially suitable for potassium-rich soils like loam. Urine consists of about 95 % water and substances like urea, chloride, sodium, potassium and creatine. Fresh urine has a neutral pH value and usually carries no pathogens. In the body, urine is sterile. Bacteria can sneak in on its way out of the body or at handling. That’s harmless, however, when you fertilise with your own urine and thus can control your “fertiliser production”.
Disadvantages of urine
Some drugs and chemicals leave traces in urine. Most of those substances degrade quickly but that’s not the case, for example, for hormones like those in hormonal conception control. Those hormones decompose slowly and harm animals and the environment when they seep into the groundwater.
Hobby gardeners fertilising with urine usually know where it comes from. If a member of your family is treated with medicine like for example penicillin, you should refrain from collecting this person’s urine.
Some plants are sensitive to salt in the soil and on the leaves. Depending on your food, your urine may contain salts as well. If you’ve eaten a lot of salty food, you shouldn’t use the resulting urine as fertiliser.
Fertilising with urine
About one month after basic fertilisation in spring (for example with manure or compost), we must start to fertilise for maintenance. In early and high summer, the plants grow so fast that they need a “snack” to help them reach their full potential and provide us with a great harvest.
Urine is usually used for maintenance fertilisation as it provides a lot of nitrogen.
To fertilise with urine, dilute one part of urine with 9 parts water. The colour of this fertiliser should be pale, like very weak tea and it shouldn’t smell of anything.
Water the soil with this dilution but not the plants and don’t fertilise shortly before harvesting.
Make sure to not over-fertilise. It’s better to use too little than too much of it.
If you fertilise with urine only, add organic matter to the soil.
Faeces
Human faeces often cause a feeling of disgust but when writing about natural fertilisers I can’t leave this topic out. If that stinks for you, you needn’t read any further. If, however, you rise to the challenge, take a deep breath. We’ll open the toilet door…
In general, humans must defecate once a day, regardless of their sex, age, ethnicity, social class, weight, religion, culture or values. In some parts of the world, human excrement is a possible source of diseases. In the Western world, we flush away our heaps with just a touch of a button.
Advantages and disadvantages of human faeces
Human (like animal) excrements contain nutrients that are suitable for plants. Urine contains the most nutrients and is especially rich in nitrogen. Faeces contain mull material and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In the Western world, every person releases about 5 kilograms of nitrogen and 0.6 kilograms of phosphorus per year into the sewer system, together with about 20 m3 of drinking water.
Contrary to urine, stool may contain pathogens (bacteria, viruses and parasites) and must be composted or stored before you can use it as a fertiliser for edible plants. The compost must reach temperatures of at least 50 °C to ensure that harmful organisms die. If faeces are not heat-composted, they have to be stored for at least two years before that compost can be used in the vegetable garden.
Composting faeces
Before composting faeces in your garden, please research if it is allowed in your region. In Germany, for example, you can do it as long as there is no danger to the environment. It must be guaranteed, for example, that the faeces won’t be washed off by rain. Also, one has to make sure that there is no smell. However, composting faeces is forbidden if the garden is situated in a water protection area.
If you want to try composting faeces, you must separate the faeces from the urine and collect them. There are so-called “dry toilets” that help you with this process. When the toilet is full, make a compost heap of the faeces in your garden. Let it rot for about one year and then shovel it to another place so that the microorganisms and soil organisms can accelerate the composting process. After 2 –4 years the compost is hygienically safe and can be used as natural fertiliser for your garden.
Conclusion
I have never used natural fertilisers of human origin in my garden. I could envisage trying urine as a fertiliser but using faeces compost is not an option for me right now. Call me narrow-minded if you like, but it simply doesn’t feel right. However, if you want to try it, go ahead. And if you have tried it already, please leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences.
The cheapest and easiest way to make natural fertiliser for your vegetables is by using plants that already grow in and around your garden. No transportation is required, (almost) no processing is involved and most of it won’t cost a penny! Just rip out the weeds – or should we call them “green gold” – use them as mulch or make liquid fertiliser from them. Or you sow cover crops to enrich the soil with nutrients. Let’s see how you can make natural fertilisers from plants.
Homemade liquid fertiliser
You can make liquid fertiliser from various plants that I’m sure you’ll find in your immediate vicinity. The basic process is simple:
Take 1 kilogram of fresh or 150 g dried plants per 10 litres of water. Put the plants into a bucket, or a wooden or plastic barrel. Never use a metal container as it may react with the fertiliser in an undesired way. Fill the bucket or barrel with water about 5 – 10 cm (2 – 4 inches) under the brim. It’s best to use rainwater or stale water, warmed up by the sun. Cover the barrel or bucket with a lid so that air may get in and let it sit outside for about a week. You’ll know when the brew is ready because it’ll stink bestially 😊, usually after 2 – 3 weeks. Mix in some stone meal to get the smell under control and to prevent a riot from the neighbours.
Dilute the fertiliser at a ratio of 1 part fertiliser to 10 parts water and water or spray your plants.
Plants for liquid fertilisers and their benefits
These are the plants most commonly used for liquid fertilisers.
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
Stinging nettle is one of many types from the family of nettles. They often grow – or rather proliferate – on soils that contain much nitrogen, thus indicating nutritious soil.
Besides nitrogen, stinging nettles are rich in potassium, iron, calcium and manganese. You can use it for liquid fertiliser as well as in your salad.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
The comfrey family contains many types of lovely plants with small, tender flowers and large, stiff leaves. Liquid comfrey fertiliser is particularly rich in potassium but also contains calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc. It’s good for tomatoes. You can prepare the liquid fertiliser with a mixture of comfrey and stinging nettle to add more nitrogen.
Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Field horsetail contains a lot of silicon, making it suitable for prevention against fungal diseases like mildew. If a plant is already ill, however, field horsetail can’t cure it. Make sure to use field horsetail for your liquid fertiliser and not the poisonous marsh horsetail.
Medicinal, aromatic and wild herbs
You can use medicinal and aromatic herbs as additives in liquid fertilisers. Those include chive, peppermint, marjoram, chamomile and hyssop. You may also use wild herbs like dandelion and shepherd’s purse. Just add one or two handfuls of herbs for example to your stinging nettle brew and let it ferment.
Fertilisation with liquid fertiliser
Liquid fertilisers are meant for maintenance fertilisation and as “energy drinks” or “snacks”.
Water the soil or spray the plant leaves with it.
Liquid fertiliser is a good substitute for urine when you want to fertilise vegetables shortly before harvesting.
Mulching
While fermenting plants to make liquid fertilisers is a direct method to enhance your garden’s nutrient content, mulching is an indirect way to make natural fertilisers from plants.
What is mulching
Mulching means covering the soil with organic material that comes either from plants or is of animal origin. With mulch, we imitate nature where soil never lies bare but is always covered with vegetation, leaves or other rotting organic material.
Advantages of mulching
Open soil is more vulnerable than covered soil. It erodes, dries out, gets cracks and becomes crusty. Without roots absorbing them, nutrients will wash out. And without food and “work” and “living space”, the soil animals and microorganisms disappear.
By covering your soil, its mull content rises, and it becomes porous. It can bind nutrients more easily and store water and oxygen better. A porous soil provides the plants with optimum conditions for growth. Also, the relatively constant temperature in a covered soil is beneficiary for vegetation. And last but not least, mulch suppresses weeds.
Covering soils with mulch is also called surface composting. Like in a compost heap, mulch material rots and becomes fine mull. The advantage of surface composting is that fewer nutrients disappear, and fewer greenhouse gases are released than with classic composting where high temperatures are generated.
Disadvantages of mulching
Alas, even mulching has its disadvantages. Snails and voles feel well under the moist mulch. Factors like microclimate, plant growth and thickness of the mulch layer also play an important role. If necessary, mulch in thinner layers.
Mulch material
In autumn, you can use leaves, in summer grass clippings and during harvesting time plant residues as mulch. You may shred the material (for example with your lawn mower) before using it as mulch. Apart from grass, leaves and plant residues you can also use hay, straw, bark and seaweed as mulch material, as well as sheep wool or hair from your pets.
How to mulch
Stack up about 5 – 30 of mulch, depending on your material. Grass clippings may stick together and rot when moist and spread too thickly. Let them dry a bit before using them as mulch. I recommend mulching more often and in small portions. Add new mulch as soon as the original mulch layer has decomposed and crumbled.
When organic carbon-rich material decomposes, part of the nutrients are used up during composting. You can compensate for that by fertilising with urine or liquid fertiliser from chicken manure.
Cover crops
Cover crops are special plants that improve the soil structure with their root system and at the same time provide nutrients. The plants themselves fertilise the soil with nitrogen, for their own growth and succession plants. That means they raise the nitrogen content (and only that) instead of decreasing it.
Nitrogen collectors
Legumes like beans, peas, lupines, flat and sweet peas, lucernes and clover can fix nitrogen from the air. It’s a miracle they can do by a symbiotic relationship between their root nodules and certain bacteria. Nitrogen is collected in the plant’s roots as well as in its aboveground parts. For this reason, you should dig in the remains after cutting the plants.
When the plant mass is worked superficially into the soil, decomposition starts and nitrogen is released into the soil. The organic material raises the soil’s mull content. 20 to 40 % of fixed nitrogen is released almost immediately for the successive crop.
Soil breakers
Cover crops with long roots like melilot and lupines “drill” into deeper soil layers and get nutrients from deep down. When you later work in the plants, the nutrients are released into the mother soil. This is a smart, yet simple process to make the otherwise inaccessible nutrients available.
A further advantage is that the roots that die off after cutting, leave long canals in the soil through which oxygen, water and nutrients can be transported. This results in a porous soil.
Furthermore, cover crops suppress weeds when they’re sown densely.
How to use cover crops
You can sow cover crops between plant rows or even between plants within a row. Beans and potatoes, for example, are a well-known and proven combination.
You can also sow cover crops after harvesting an early crop like lettuce or before a late crop to prevent the soil from lying bare.
When you create a new patch, cover crops are like a curative treatment for your soil. You must wait a year, that’s true, but you get a cultivation area in top form! For optimum results choose a mixture that provides nitrogen, loosens the soil deeply and suffocates weeds.
To prevent the cover crops from spreading their seeds, you must cut them off before. Some sorts may be cut several times during a season (and best used as mulch). Annuals can be worked into the soil late in autumn.
Perennials should be left on the patches over the winter to prevent washing out of nutrients. Work them into the soil in early spring or late autumn. You can also dig in dry leaves, straw or other carbon-rich materials.
Cover crop plants and their benefits
Depending on what your soil needs, you can choose the right cover crop plants:
Plants that gather nitrogen out of the air like legumes
Those that break up the soil like lupines and meliot
Plants that increase the mull content due to their great leaf mass like tansy phacelia
You can mix the seeds or buy ready-made seed mixtures.
Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
An annual, fast-growing plant with a strong root system. Crimson clover is a good nitrogen collector.
Common vetch (Vicia sativa)
An annual, fast-growing plant that collects nitrogen well.
Bluebell (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
An annual, fast-growing plant that covers soil easily and well. Bluebells don’t collect nitrogen but absorb nutrients well from the soil.
Lupine (Lupinus)
An annual plant with a strong root system and good nitrogen-collecting abilities. The yellow and white lupine is suitable for light soils, and the blue lupine is great for heavy loam soil.
Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum)
An annual plant with good nitrogen-collecting abilities that needs a lot of water.
Lucerne (Medicago)
A perennial, slow-growing plant with a deep root system. Lucerne is a great cover plant.
Burrowing clover (Trifolium subterraneum)
An annual plant with a strong root system. Burrowing clover is a great cover plant and a good nitrogen collector. Shade tolerant.
Sweet clover (Melilotus)
A bi-annual plant with a powerful taproot. Sweet clover is a good nitrogen collector.
There are many ways to use wild and cultivated plants as natural fertilisers for your garden! Plants in combination with fertilisers from animals not only give your vegetables a great start into the season. They also help you to maintain the soil’s nutrient level, thus ensuring healthy plants and a great harvest.
