Why Naked Dirt is a No-No
What do you picture when you think of large-scale food-growing farms? Is it something like this, organized in neat rows?
One problem with this kind of planting is all the bare dirt in between each row. Nature abhors a vacuum, and every inch of open soil is a spot for a plant to grow, when given the opportunity. Bare soil is unprotected from the elements, so it loses nutrients and microbial life that could be feeding the soil all around it. Insisting on bare soil in between rows of crops actually hurts the crops. The bare soil often incurs an influx of weeds, which can rob the crops of nutrients and moisture as well.
What’s the alternative? On a large scale, regenerative farms are using cover crops to increase biodiversity and soil health around the crops they are growing. While these plants prevent soil erosion and protect it from the elements, they also improve soil health and keep out invasive pests & weeds.
Clover as a cover crop = happier soil
Does this matter in the home garden? Most definitely.
In both kitchen gardens and flowerbeds, the more intensively you plant, the healthier your soil. Look for open spaces and find a way to fill them! Plant groundcovers under taller plants.
In a kitchen garden, don’t plant in separated rows. Pack the plants in, square-foot gardening style, and tuck them all around the sides of a raised bed with plants that will spill over the edge like thyme, trailing rosemary, and nasturtiums.
Even with the variety of plants featured here, there are still open spaces in the bottom picture where more plants could fill in the soil!
For native plant gardens in North Texas, you can have a living mulch in the form of frogfruit, snake herb, or horse herb under a tall plant like Turk’s Cap or American Beautyberry. These will help keep weeds out and will help keep moisture in the soil during hot summer months.
This beautiful Columbine serves as a great understory plant in the shade, but will also take some sun. It readily re-seeds itself, filling in bare spots of the soil with beautiful foliage instead of annoying weeds.
Bonus Fun Fact: Insisting on growing only one type of plant in a space is another way to decrease soil health. Nowhere in nature do you find mono-crops. The more variety you have, the better the soil - which explains part of the reason why you have to fight so hard to get your lawn to grow lush and green all by itself! Consider purposely over-seeding your lawn with some other low-growing plants like clover to improve biodiversity and soil health.
Want to grow more in a small space and don’t know where to start? Garden Coach to the rescue! It all starts with a consult, or even a free 15-minute Discovery Call.
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