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Organic Gardening

crimson clover

14 years ago

i seeded my garden plot in crimson clover this fall, i plan on going no till....do i need to kill it off this spring? if so then how?

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Comments (8)

Kimmsr
14 years ago
In their book "Better Soils for Better Crops" Magdoff and van Es talk about crimping green manure crops, rolling soemthing over them to knock them over and then planting through the residue. I've done that with the Field, Winter, Cereal Rye I plant with very good results for years.
west9491
Original Author
14 years ago
what would you roll it with? surely not something heavy that would compact the soil???

btw, i hear this stuff looks nice when it flowers, when does it flower?
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Kimmsr
14 years ago
As I recall the Rodale Research Institute and Penn State University developed what they called a "crimper" that could be pulled over a field with a green manure/cover crop that bent the stalks over that might bear looking into.

Here is a link that might be useful: crop crimper
west9491
Original Author
14 years ago
im wondering how efficiently this will work on my garden, cuz the clover is right against the ground, it hasn't really grown to any height.....
claycrabgrass
14 years ago
enjoyed the crop crimper video.
for a smaller garden space how about knocking down the old crop with a mulching mower and finishing with a rake.
farmersteve
14 years ago
West,
I have used crimson clover for several years. You will need to kill it off before it goes to seed. I am not sure how big of an area you have under clover, but I have always used my weed whacker on the clover (it will be much taller in the spring). Then I either leave it on the surface or work it in to the top couple of inches of soil with a garden fork.

Here in north Alabama, mine starts to flower in late April or early May, but I sometimes have to whack it before then to get the early crops in.

Steve
Kimmsr
14 years ago
All green manure crops need to have growth stopped just at blossom stage since that is when the plants have the most nutrients, just when they are getting ready to set seed. A mulching mower could be used, a lawn roller might be an option (although that could be heavy), or in small plots I have simply walked around, taking very small steps, and knocking the plant stems over. Those stems are then left on the soil as mulch.
Given a bit of thought I'm sure someone could make something similar to the crimper used at RRI.
west9491
Original Author
14 years ago
yeah i was thinking that the roller wouldn't be the most practical application on a no till plot.....the weedeater sounds fine,

good idea about the homemade crimper, i might now someone with a plan....

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