Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
portion of the soil. If you must cultivate in your orchard, keep the cultivation
as shallow as possible.
When planting an annual cover crop through the stubble of the preceding
cover crop, use a no-till planter, if possible. Set it at the shallowest planting
depth that will serve for your cover crops. Regardless of the planter used,
keep tillage as shallow as possible to reduce damage to tree roots. Suggested
How to manage.
Mowing annual alley crops once to several times during
the growing season prevents them from becoming overgrown and producing
seed. Cereal grain crops provide excellent rodent habitat. Reduce this habitat
by mowing the crops before they set seed. Mow by early- to mid-fall to leave
a short stubble going into winter, when most tree girdling by rodents occurs.
Blowing the clippings into the tree rows during mowing helps reduce
weed problems and adds organic matter to the tree rows. In areas with heavy
rainfall or where the soil moisture levels are already naturally high, keeping
the soil in the crop rows covered with mulch can increase root rot problems
in some crops. Mulching has aggravated root rot problems in some New York
apple orchards, for example.
Despite their advantages, especially for young orchards, annual alley
crops have some drawbacks. Most importantly, the stubble provides little
weed control and leaves the orchard floor open for invasion during much of
the growing season. Wheat and barley stubble provide reasonable access for
equipment, but they are not overly pleasant to walk on and are less desir-
able for U-pick and home orchards than smooth, turf-covered alleys. Before
using annual alley crops, be sure that you have serious weeds under control,
particularly established perennial weeds.
Perennial Alley Crops
Perennial alley crops have many of the advantages of annual cover crops,
as well as a few more. The greatest advantage is not having to replant each
