Maintaining Wild Tip – Cover crops
by Besa Schweitzer, chapter member
Cover crops can be used to repair damaged soil.
Planting a temporary crop to hold soil from erosion, prevent weeds, and add organic matter can prepare a bed for the future garden.
These weedy species have an important role in establishing a groundcover quickly and then gradually disappearing as longer-lived plants slowly get established.
These band-aid species are plants like lanceleaf coreopsis, black eyed Susan, cardinal flower, columbine, mist flower, golden alexander, robin’s plantain, wild strawberry, and many sedges.
Annuals like jewelweed, red whiskers, wax weed, Spanish needles, and wild petunia are all able to be seeded into soil conditions that many other plants won’t tolerate.
About our new Maintaining Wild series:
To help you keep up with your native garden care in 2026 we’re posting a maintenance tip each week on our website and on Facebook. These tips will include native garden specific tasks as well as some basic gardening advice.
A new tip will appear weekly on Facebook, on Friday at 1 pm.
To join the discussion, comment on our Facebook page.
Stay tuned for a new garden maintenance tip each week to help get you out into the garden and make 2026 a year for Maintaining Wild. Let’s have a discussion and share our knowledge!
View all tips on a single page: https://stlwildones.org/maintaining-wild-tips/
