As we head into the end of the growing and gardening season, it’s important to show your garden some love after it has provided all season long for you and yours. My preferred cover crop mix is oats, field peas, and tillage radish – seeded in late August or early September. But whether you missed that late season cover crop planting window, or have never planted any cover crops, cereal rye has got you covered for early October cover cropping. 
 

Cereal rye is a winter-hardy, cool-season grass that is generally planted in fall and terminated in spring. A cereal rye cover crop can confer a host of benefits to the area it is planted in. Once established, it will suppress winter weeds, break up soil compaction, and form a good mulch layer in spring when it is terminated.  
 

Weed suppression 

In the garden off-season, while your thoughts drift to other projects, winter annual weeds are hard at work – covering over your garden soil and making spring preparations for summer growing very difficult. This can be prevented by planting cereal rye, before those winter annuals germinate. Early October-planted cereal rye will take all the sunshine and fall rain it can get and choke out the less desirable competition. 
 

Soil compaction 

Do you have an area of your garden that seems hard, holds water when it rains, or where plant roots just don’t seem to grow as well? Your soil may be compacted, due to years of settling, foot traffic, or other factors. Cereal rye can grow adequately in compacted soils, and its deep, fibrous network of roots will loosen the ground for future crops.  
 

Cereal rye as spring mulch 

Cereal rye is planted in fall, establishes roots, and then lays dormant until spring. When temperatures warm in early March, cereal rye comes alive again. Fall-established underground crowns shoot up green, lush growth all April, and can top out at chest-height. Once rye is terminated, transplant tomatoes and peppers into it in late May; its residue can hold moisture in the event of a dry spring.  

NOTE: cereal rye will not die with freezing temperatures, like oats and field peas. It needs to be terminated in mid to late spring before it goes to seed, about 2 weeks before the desired transplant date. 
 

Mowing/tilling 

The easiest way to terminate cereal rye is to mow it as close to the soil as possible or use a string trimmer and lay it down on the ground. After 1-2 days of warm weather, the residue will dry up. Once that occurs, use a rototiller to till down 3-4 inches to kill cereal rye roots. Another termination option – called crimping – exists but is less common. Reach out to your local Extension office with questions about the crimping process.  
 

Get started with cereal rye by calling up the local garden center to make sure they have it in stock. Be sure to know the total square feet of the planting area you intend to cover-crop with cereal rye at this point.  
 

Broadcast 4-5 pounds of cereal rye seed per 1000 square feet of garden space, by hand if necessary. Do this as soon as possible after reading this article, to give the rye the best chance at getting established prior to winter. Evenly spread your seed over all parts of your garden area. For best results, weed and rake the surface of garden soils to create grooves for seeds to fall into. Water cover crop plots every other day (unless rain is forecast), until the rye is 4-6 inches tall. After that, sit back, relax, and wait for a great garden season in 2025.