Cover crops for backyard garden - Ask Extension
Hello, I am moving towards the no till method of gardening. I am looking at cover crops for the winter. Will that help cut down the weeds in the sprin...
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Cover crops for backyard garden #913870
Asked August 13, 2025, 11:52 AM EDT
Hello, I am moving towards the no till method of gardening. I am looking at cover crops for the winter. Will that help cut down the weeds in the spring and next years growing season? My area is about 20ftx20ft. I have been battling the weeds something terrible the last few years. This year I did put straw and landscape fabric down in there. It helped some but they came in with a vengeance in other areas of the garden! Over the past 7 years I've had a garden in this space maybe 5 years not consecutive, it used to be a animal pen about 10 years ago. Thank you for any advice you have on what I can do to stop the weeds from coming in so strong so I can at least keep up with pulling as needed.
Dodge County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thanks for the question. Weeds are challenging. I assume you are battling annual weeds, and not perennial weeds. You will want to plant a late summer crop that is an aggressive, fast growing cover crop, such as buckwheat, to out complete the weeds. Here is a link to more information, including a video, on cover crops for small garden spaces: https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/summer-cover-crops-video
No doubt you will need to do some hand weeding at the early on to reduce the weed pressure and give the cover crop an advantage.
Paul -Master Gardener volunteer
