In agriculture, a living mulch is a cover crop interplanted or undersown with a main crop, and intended to serve the functions of a mulch, such as weed suppression and regulation of soil temperature. Living mulches grow for a long time with the main crops, whereas cover crops are incorporated into the soil or killed with herbicides.
Other benefits of mulches are slowing the growth of weeds, and protecting soil from water and wind erosion. Some living mulches were found to increase populations of the natural enemies of crop pests. Legumes used as living mulches also provide nitrogen fixation, reducing the need for fertilizer.
Read more about Living Mulch: Benefits, Drawbacks, Types, Management, Plant Nutrition, Control of Erosion
Famous quotes containing the word living:
“We are like ignorant shepherds living on a site where great civilizations once flourished. The shepherds play with the fragments that pop up to the surface, having no notion of the beautiful structures of which they were once a part.”
—Allan Bloom (1930–1992)