Planning path

Cover Crop Garden Planner

Plan home-garden cover crops from soil cover goals, planting windows, fall timing, winter-kill behavior, termination method, crop-family rotation, and source-backed cover crop candidates.

Cover crop planning checks

Pick the cover crop job first
Choose whether the bed needs erosion control, weed suppression, nitrogen fixation, nutrient scavenging, organic matter, pollinator bloom, or a simple green manure before picking a species.
Match species to the planting window
Use spring, summer, late-summer, fall, and overwintering windows differently; early-harvested beds give cover crops more time to establish before cold weather.
Plan termination before sowing
Decide how and when the cover crop will be killed before planting the next crop, and allow enough time for residues to break down so they do not compete with seedlings.
Use winter-killed covers when tillage is limited
Choose oats, peas, radish, buckwheat, or similar winter-killed covers when the spring bed needs low-disturbance residue rather than a living stand to manage.
Separate pest families from the next crop
Use plant family and rotation context so brassica, legume, grass, and buckwheat covers do not accidentally host the same pests or diseases as the next cash crop.
Seed thick enough for soil cover
Prepare a clean seedbed, broadcast evenly, rake lightly for seed-to-soil contact, and irrigate if needed so the cover crop actually covers soil before weeds do.

Regional cover crop checks

Pair cover crop choices with regional spring, summer, fall, overwintering, frost, soil-temperature, and bed-reset checks

Cover crop seed candidates

Supporting planning paths

Source basis