Best Summer Cover Crops

By Harvey Ussery
Updated on July 14, 2023
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by Adobestock/New Africa

Sow the four best summer cover crops for fast-growing, weed-suppressing soil builders in any patch possible, even during your prime gardening season.

No gardening practice yields as many benefits as cover cropping, and growing cover crops in every season is as important as producing vegetables for your table. We too often think gardening reduces soil fertility, but in fact, the more you keep live plants growing, the richer your soil will become. Roots exude substances that feed beneficial soil organisms, including the amazing mycorrhizae (see Mycorrhizal Fungi). Deep-rooted plants draw minerals from subsoil, which makes the minerals available to shallow-rooted crops. Dead plants, including invisible roots, decompose and release nutrients for use by subsequent crops. Plants also prevent soil erosion, and decomposing roots open channels for oxygen and rain, and provide pathways through which earthworms and other important organisms can migrate. Repeated seasons of organic matter deposition will increase soil carbon, or “humus,” which is crucial to soil fertility, friable texture and water retention.

The ecological benefits of cover cropping go beyond soil improvement: Cover crops scavenge nutrient surges in soil that result from tilling in fresh plant matter or manure. They also prevent runoff pollution and “bank” excess nutrients for later crops. These beneficial covers boost biological diversity in and around gardens, a key to naturally preventing plant diseases and insect damage. Plus, many cover crops perform double-duty as forage for poultry and livestock, making a homestead less dependent on purchased inputs.

Too often, gardeners practice cover cropping only in the off-season — for instance, to protect soil in winter — and assume it’s not a summer option. But it is, and planting summer cover crops provides big payoffs.

Unique Challenges of Summer Cover Crops

Drought and heat. Drought is more likely in summer, so gardeners must choose cover crop species that not only thrive in heat but are also drought-tolerant. Hot, dry soil is also inimical to seed germination, so no summer cover is likely to succeed without a little loving care.

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