Hi, I'm looking for a green manure mix that will allow me to take cuts of organic matter as a mulch.
I have plenty of/too much space so was planning to sow say a 100 sqr meter area with green manure for a few years and mow it periodically so I can mulch fruit/veg crops with the cuttings and a way to keep spare land in use and free of weeds. I only have a garden mower so the maximum cut height is about 10cm. After a few years, this area would then be ploughed and used to grow veg and another area would be sown with green manure etc. Most mixes I have seen focus on fertility but I'm after purely the cut organic matter and possibly soil structure improvements. I'm on clay. Ideally, the first cut should be april/may before the weeds germinate.
Any ideas
Jeremy
You'll be looking towards clover family then....
http://www.cotswoldseeds.com/green_manures.html (http://www.cotswoldseeds.com/green_manures.html)
Thanks, yes, they do some mixes that may be suitable. I have read clover requires very tilled/ flat ground and may not do so well with clay. I would buy some to try but dont want to spend £8 on postage. There appear to be so many types with rye in the title - Italian, grazing, hungarian, forage and rygrass. I need to get my head around the differences.
jeremy
Hi Jeremy, found the Tuckers Seeds catalogue has some really good information in it about green manure types and purposes so may be worth a look. Lance
Great info on the Cotswold Seeds site, Goodlife: the more I read about green manures the more I realise I don't know. :)
I've only dabbled myself (phacelia and red clover, in individual veg beds) but here's the company I've used. May be helpful to note for anyone needing garden/allotment quantities rather than smallholding/farm quantities):
http://www.simpsonsseeds.co.uk/shop/Green_Manures.html
look at hungarian grazing rye or ryecorn - these are also long term green manures with the benefit of extensive top growth to cut for mulching. Edwin Tucker seeds have good ranges for reasonable prices.
I just bought some phacelia from here. Its amazing for bees.
http://www.sowseeds.co.uk/
Thanks, some good sites there. I think its going to be some sort of white clover (apparently better than red clover if you are going to mow it frequently)/ Italian ryegrass mix.
Another thing I have just read about is undersowing. I plan to get some red clover to undersow my squashes/pumpkins and sweetcorn and possibly climbing beans. When the crops finish, you leave the clover there to take over and dig it in the following spring.
http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=99999999