Spring Follow-Up: What Happens to Cover Crop Debris Over the Winter?

One of the questions I was asked most frequently last year was about how the cover crop + leaf combination breaks down over the winter, and what I do with all of the plant matter / debris in the spring. I made a point of filming it this spring, now that I've started planting, so that you all can see the results in detail. The short version: the cover crops themselves are completely absorbed into the soil, along with the finely chopped leaves, while the insulating top layer of leaves is left in place as a mulch wherever I put in transplants. Enjoy!

[@jessie-2023]

Thank you for the update. I have enjoyed seeing the process. My husband and I used our leaves last Fall and it worked wonderfully. We didn't chop them up at all and it provided a wonderful cover....kept down the weeds and kept the soil from drying out. Next Fall I believe we will have to chop them up though. A few weeks ago I found a baby snake in the leaves...noticed after I picked it up by mistake ...then saw an adult King Snake last week crawling around. I am in Zone 8b though so a warmer climate. I want to continue to enjoy this soil benefit so I think that will be the solution. There were so many worms and other insects so I believe it was really working. :) Just wanted to throw that out there..not in a negative light ... but just as an FYI if someone lives in a climate like mine.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Chopping them up sounds like a good idea; the sheltering microclimate for the soil also shelters…larger life. 😬 I had a large grow bag that I was using as a container on our patio and also put leaves on it; a toad moved into it for hibernation and I found it upside down ain’t the leaves in the spring. Definitely a shock. If you do chop them up, be prepared to use more as the leaves do break down much faster.

[@scottbaruth9041]

The city brings me leaves for my garden by the dump truck load. I garden in 50x50 plots. I spread them out across the gardens and chop them down with a riding mower, then till them in. You must get rain, and you must till it in about 4x prior to planting seeds, or it would be too rough. This works really well for anything to be planted around last frost date, as the leaves will be gone by then. I do leave one patch without leaves for the very early spring plantings of radishes, onions, and lettuce as your leaves may not be gone quite yet in early March. But what an excellent amendment for the soil! No chemicals, and free.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

I don’t till mine and prefer to leave them (no pun intended 😂) in place as a soil shield, but otherwise I think we’re getting the same benefit of FREE organic matter for the soil 👍

[@scottbaruth9041]

@WellGroundedGardens I'm glad you're making videos on leaves. I live outside a small city, just under 5k population, and the mound of leaves that people dump each year at the recycling center is mind-blowing. The city noticed me picking leaves up and offered to deliver. I ordered 11 dump truck loads and barely put a dent in the pile. More people should be using them in their gardens. I'm probably going to try your method on the pepper and tomato patches next season and see how that goes vs. the way I do it now.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

@scottbaruth9041 our township collects and composts them and gives residents the compost for free (if you load it yourself). It’s an awesome resource! Let me know how it works as a mulch for your tomatoes and peppers. FYI, I find that putting it down just ahead of snowfall and leaving it under heavy snow cover for the winter gets them sufficiently “matted down” but I haven’t tried it as mulch in the fall, while it’s still “fluffy.”

[@Frog13799]

I'm keen on doing this, however I have high winds

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Once they settle and pack down, they don’t really move in winds (mine stayed out during systems with tornados). You could try running over the leaves with a lawn mower, first, to help them pack down or use some row cover or landscape fabric on top to hold them until rain/snow compacts them a bit.

[@johnherberte8131]

Yes I'm thinking mine would be.ow away too