The Best Cover Crops to Control Weeds

Cover crops have been used for ages to help control weeds, but some cover crops are better than others. I prefer to use cover crops that not only control weeds from invading my garden, but those that are beneficial to the soil. Here are three of the best cover crops that I have used to control weeds at different times of the year and in different ways.

Cereal Rye Grass
Cereal rye grass is my cover crop of choice when I run out of time at the end of the season and need something quick and reliable. The cover crop fills in a garden plot quickly and fully so that there is no room for anything else to seed until you are ready to plant again in the spring. The seeds, once spread, will germinate faster than a lot of other cover crops and you can sow them late into the season when most other cover crops do not have enough time to fill in before the first frost sets in. Another great benefit to adding cereal rye over other cover crops is the nutrients that it adds to the soil come planting time, cereal rye is extremely nitrogen rich.

Soybeans
Soybeans are a good option for those with large garden plots or when you are decide to leave a garden fallow for a growing season. When soybeans are growing, weeds are kept well under control because they are thick enough to keep any stray seeds from getting the sun and space that they need to thrive. I like to use soybeans around the perimeter of my garden during the summer months, and it really saves me time and energy that would otherwise would be spent weeding and turning soil so that weeds do not steal nutrients from my vegetable crops. Soybeans, like other great cover crops, end up giving back to the soil though, so try them during the summer months.

Crimson Clover
I have only had the chance to use crimson clover twice as a cover crop, but both times that I used it in my garden I found that it did an excellent job at controlling weeds. The crimson clover was also really good at reseeding itself, so even though I only planted once, it went ahead and reseeded itself in the fall when most of my garden was ready to be cleared out. This worked great because it controlled weeds that would otherwise seed themselves in the fall and create an overgrown mess from early fall through the winter.