Growing Your Mulch On-Site: Using Site Produced Sorghum/Sudan as a Mulch for Hybrid Poplar

Killed cover crops are being used increasingly for weed control in horticultural systems. We propose the use of killed cover crops as a method of erosion and weed control in afforestation and conservation plantings. We grew sorghum-Sudan in two plots during 2001. We cut the crop and planted hybrid poplar cuttings in spring 2002. We did no other weed control during the season. As controls, we planted two adjacent plots with hybrid poplar cuttings and used conventional tillage and hand weeding to maintain a weed-free bed. The survival was greater in the plots with sorghum-Sudan mulch than in the conventionally managed plots; however, the growth was not significantly different. Based on this initial test, killed cover crops appear to have potential for erosion and weed control in afforestation and conservation plantings.