Improve the garden soil without chemical fertilizers or compost? This works out! All you need are clover seeds and this guide to cover crops.
Most garden soils are not naturally ideal for successfully growing fruit and vegetables. Of course, most plants will grow in almost any substrate, but if it is optimally supplied with nutrients, you can increase the yield considerably. And it is precisely these nutrients that you should add to the soil with fertilizer. But stay away from chemical fertilizers! Rather use a green manure with clover!
Benefits of green manure
Fertilisers are commercially available for a wide variety of plants. But especially when it comes to growing fruit and vegetables, you should prefer natural fertilizers. Above all green manure, because this can do much more than normal fertilizer.
❍ Advantage No. 1.
For example, the plants form roots in the soil, so that it is deeply loosened.
❍ Advantage No. 2.
In addition, the planting forms a dense cover after a certain period of time and can thus counteract silting up of the soil.
❍ Advantage 3.
In addition, the plant cover suppresses the growth of weeds.
❍ Advantage 4.
After mowing the area, you can even leave the plants on the ground to create a good mulch layer.
❍ Advantage No. 5.
The soil is better aerated, which also activates soil life and increases the proportion of humus.
❍ Advantage 6.
Due to the loosening and improved aeration, the soil is also able to store more water.
Means in summary: green manure improves the soil.
Use clover for green manure
The clover is one of the fast-growing plants that you can use for green manure. In addition to lupins, it is particularly suitable for planting on medium to loamy substrates. The roots can reach up to two meters deep, causing deep loosening of the soil.
In addition, the clover lives with youvarious soil bacteria in a community that attach themselves to the roots of the plant and bring in nitrogen from the air. As a result, the nitrogen content in the soil increases, which cannot be washed out so quickly by rain.
Instructions for green manuring with clover
Step 1:
There are different types of clover, some of which are even hardy. However, it usually doesn't matter whether you choose a hardy or a non-hardy variety. Green manuring can be carried out equally well with both. So first of all, buy a suitable product.
Step 2:
As soon as you have harvested the beds in autumn at the latest, the foundation can begin. To do this, you must first prepare the beds as if you want to sow a lawn. Only leveling is not required.
Step 3:
If you have decided on a hardy clover, you can simply leave it over the winter. It then freezes before the seeds ripen. You should only mow off the remains in the spring and work them flat into the ground.
If you have decided on a clover variety that is not hardy, you must mow the plants before the seeds ripen. You then leave the clippings on the ground as a layer of mulch, where they rot. You can then simply work the leftovers into the soil in spring.
Step 4:
You can replant your beds about three to four weeks after the clover has been worked into the soil (i.e. in the spring).