Hardscrabble Journal

Weeds or Native Cover Crops?

One very significant aspect of Hardscrabble Vineyard that has changed over the years is the vineyard floor. In the 1980s and 1990s we would keep the ground under the vines weed free. This allowed for good air flow. Additionally the lack of competition for water and nutrients resulted in very large, vigorous vines.

Too large. The vines were out of balance and required constant hedging in the summer. Their dense, crowded canopy did not dry out quickly after a rain leading to greater mildew pressure.

We then tried sowing various low-growing cover crops such as clovers and Creeping Red Fescue. The clovers worked for a year or two, but were eventually overtaken by stronger, taller weeds. The fescue worked too well. Competition with the vines was so great that in many blocks the vines started to decline.

Around that time we were visited by a professor of viticulture from Bordeaux. As we lamented our dilemma he was surveying the vineyard floor. “You have a diversity of good native cover crops already growing naturally. Use them.”

And we thought they were weeds. A decade later the vineyard now has a wonderful sequence of low growing native cover crops carpeting the ground under the vines.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: May 25, 2021