Seedfork said: ... planting a cover crop is something I have always intended to do and have never ever done! If I plan a rose bed, double dig, add amendments and get it all raked out and looking beautiful, I just cannot force myself to plant a cover crop and wait till later to plant what ever I had planned for that particular bed.
YES! Thank you for saying that. I thought I was being very stupid, lazy and impatient for never doing what I KNOW would have been a good idea. But if you don't, either, then I COULD still be a great gardener without overcoming that particular impatience!
Seedfork said: ... I think in my mind planting the cover crop would not be hard, but the idea of turning it under later always seems like too much work.
For me, anything that involves enriching the soil seems totally worth the work. I would rather cultivate the soil than the plants!
It might be easier if you first mow the tops, and then cover the roots with cardboard or plastic long enough for them to rot just a little. Then literally "turn" the rootballs upside down and let them finish rotting.
Or, easier yet, grow an
annual cover crop, mow the tops and compost them or use them as green manure. LEAVE the roots in place over winter to maintain soil structure and drainage. Scratch the surface just before sowing next spring. The roots have already "turned themselves under" and mixed themselves well into the soil, and probably died.
It is SO easy to give advice without taking it myself!
Some day ... maybe when I retire ... if I;'m not totally feeble by then.
