- Fertility-Building Cover Crops
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- Orchard and Meadow Mix
Orchard and Meadow Mix
Type: Perennial Height: Medium, to 3' if unmowed.
Two widely-adapted native grasses, along with 4 legumes, and at least a dozen flowering plants that thrive in grassland. Provides nectar for beneficial insects. This is intended as a perennial cover, like the traditional "herbal ley" that combined many broadleafed flowers and herbs with grasses in a sort of cultivated meadow. Many pollinator plants, beneficial herbs, legumes, deep-rooted perennials, and even wild vegetables in addition to the grasses. Not primarily intended as ornamental--some of the flowers are bright and noticeable, others are small and hidden. All attract beneficials and improve the soil microbiome.
Not a seasonal cover crop, this is for permanently grassy areas that can be left long or mowed high and infrequently. While I don't know why livestock couldn't be turned in to eat it, I am not qualified to say anything about it's suitability as forage. Not adapted for the Southeastern US or northern New England, but should be able to grow everywhere else except desert. Plant in spring or fall and provide water until well-established.