Ground cover considerations

[FarmerGirl101]

I'm looking to add some sort of cover crop for our orchard that has clay soil and is dry for most of the year. Our chickens free range in it nearly every day but I am willing to lock them up while the cover crop grows. With how particular the conditions are I'm planning on using plants native to my area. This also means that I'm not too sure what the compatibility will be between my chickens and this grass.

What are some things I should look for when selecting a cover crop? I know it needs to be suitable for my area and not toxic to chickens. Beyond that I'm not quite sure. My soil is mostly clay (did the water test a while ago and it was nearly straight clay) so I do need to start incorporating organic matter and also getting the soil to loosen up while also preventing erosion in some spots. I also don't mind the chickens eating said cover crop as I know they will.

 

[cavemanrich]

@Minanora is in your general area,. Knowledgeable in gardening, and orchard management. Maybe she can suggest the choice plants, for groundcover.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Sally PB]

Alfalfa is good at breaking up soils and bringing up nutrients from down deep. Its roots can reach 10-20 feet.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Alfalfa is good at breaking up soils and bringing up nutrients from down deep. Its roots can reach 10-20 feet.

That is a good option. Would Foothill Needlegrass do the same? From the description I've found it has a very deep root system once established but I'm not sure if it would be good at breaking up soils and brining up nutrients.

 

[Sally PB]

I don't know anything about needle grass. One thing I know about alfalfa is that it is perennial. I once planted it as a ground cover for half my garden, intending it to be there for a year. Ha ha. I tilled it under and 2/3 of it came back. I tilled it again, and still was fighting about half of it. I finally got rid of most of it, but I'll find one plant at the edge of the garden. Like a weed, if you don't get the entire root, it will come back. The farmer uses glyphosate on it when he wants to get rid of it.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Is tilling the only option at the end of the season? Like is that the best way to get the organic matter into the ground or does weed whacking it down work?

 

[NatJ]

My soil is mostly clay (did the water test a while ago and it was nearly straight clay) so I do need to start incorporating organic matter and also getting the soil to loosen up while also preventing erosion in some spots. I also don't mind the chickens eating said cover crop as I know they will.

You can start spreading chicken manure & bedding on the ground in the orchard. That will help protect the ground from erosion. As the material breaks down, I would expect earthworms to till it into the soil and plants to grow through what is left of it.

Depending on what materials you have available, you might also consider some sheet composting (take anything that can be composted, spread in layers on the ground, make sure the top layer is something that will keep it all from blowing away.)

What are some things I should look for when selecting a cover crop? I know it needs to be suitable for my area and not toxic to chickens. Beyond that I'm not quite sure.

Once you have any suggestions that sound good, you could try some of each, rather trying to find just one. That way you can see the good and bad qualities of each.

Many gardeners have old seed packets that they no longer want to plant, but can't bear to throw away. You could try sprinkling some of those in the orchard, preferably when there is a prediction of rain to save you watering them. Most garden plants can make halfway-decent cover crops in some situations, and the seeds that do not grow will at least contribute a tiny bit of organic matter to the soil. Just watch to see if anything is really flourishing, and make sure it does not get to set seeds to become a weed problem in future years (not too likely, from what you say of the soil, but a nuisance if it were to happen.)

 

[Sally PB]

Is tilling the only option at the end of the season? Like is that the best way to get the organic matter into the ground or does weed whacking it down work?

I almost never till anymore, unless I have to break up sod. Tilling can help put organic matter back into the soil, but it can also do some negative things too. Like bring up dormant weed seeds, or chop up weed/grass roots that will regenerate an entire plant from each piece. And, if you have long stringy things you're trying to work back into the soil, the pieces will wrap themselves around the tines. Ask me how I know this.