Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Insectary crops can be annual, perennial, or a combination of both. They
include such plants as dill, chamomile, hairy vetch, spearmint, Queen Anne's
lace, buckwheat, yarrow, white clover, cowpea, and cosmos. Other plants also
serve as effective nectary crops, and a blend of different plants is better than
a monoculture.
include insectary crops within the planting. Another option is to include in-
sectary plants in the alleyway cover crop, although it can be difficult to man-
age an insectary crop in alleys due to such activities as mowing, and they
may not be as effective as separate plantings. For example, if you maintain
a bare strip within the tree fruit rows, blowing the seed heads of insectary
plants into the rows as a mulch could create weed problems. Alley crops of
all kinds provide some habitat for beneficial organisms. If you choose to in-
clude insectary crops in your alleys, you will have to actively manage them.
ORCHARD ACCESS
In a desert orchard, roadways and alleys are often dry and firm most
of the year. In areas that receive abundant rain and/or snow, access
during wet soil conditions can be challenging. Pruning, mulching, fertil-
izing, mowing, spraying, and harvesting can become difficult or impos-
sible. The worst situation involves bare alleyways.
In general, sod-forming grasses for roads and alleyways provide the
best year-round access. They may be supplemented with clovers or
other nitrogen-fixing plants. For alleys, well-established alfalfa also
provides reasonably good access. In arid locations where perennial
sod-forminggrassesarenotwelladapted,bunch-formingfescues,buf-
falo grass, and other arid-adapted crops can be used. Even stubble
