Hudson Valley Seed Co.

Crimson Clover Cover Crop

Name: Crimson Clover Cover Crop
Rating: 4.80 (5 reviews)

Trifolium incarnatum

Sustainably Grown

Fix Nitrogen and Add Beauty.

Crimson clover is a beauty, its showy flower heads as ornamental as any cultivated cut flower. But crimson clover is also a nutritional powerhouse for the soil, fixing loads of nitrogen for crops that follow and, when sown densely, crowding out small germinating weeds. Sown in the fall, it puts on good growth before severe cold arrives in November or December. At that point it goes dormant, then springs back again in early spring and flowers in late spring. It can also be sown in early spring; it grows quite quickly and can be mowed and incorporated into the soil easily at any point.

Sow 4-8 weeks before first fall frost (Late August or early September in zone 5).

Garden Pack: 2 ounces, sows roughly 125 square feet

Homestead Pack: ¼ pound, sows roughly 300 square feet

Farm Pack: 1 pound, sows roughly 2,000 square feet

This seed product is not included in our free shipping offer.

Unit	Price	Availability
2 Ounces	$6.39	In Stock
4 Ounces	$9.79	In Stock
1 Pound	$16.79	In Stock

Price as selected: $0.00

Ships within 2-3 business days

Growing instructions

Sow in late summer or very early fall to see full life cycle of this plant, which involves winter dormancy and late spring flowering. Or, sow in early spring, but be prepared to turn in crop before it matures and flowers. Broadcast at a volume that allows seed to land at roughly 3 inch by 3 inch spacing. Crimson clover is winter hardy to zone 5/6 (winter low about -10F / -23C), and it does not do well in the heat of summer; turn in spring-sown crops when hot weather is about to settle in.

Product Details

Days to Maturity	70-90 days
Days to Germination	7 to 10 days
Width at Maturity	12 inches
Height at Maturity	24 inches
Sun Conditions	Partial Sun (4-6 hours Sun), Full Sun (8+ Hours Sun)
Planting Depth	1/4"
Row Spacing	3 inches
Plant Spacing	3 inches

5 stars: 4 (80%)
4 stars: 1 (20%)
3 stars: 0 (0%)
2 stars: 0 (0%)
1 star: 0 (0%)

Such a beautiful cover crop! We planted this in September mixed with rye and hairy vetch, all from Hudson Valley Seed Co. In the spring they all came back vigorously - you can see all 3 in the photo - and by mid-May (in the Hudson Valley NY) the crimson clover produced these beautiful flowers. We're doing a weird experiment to try to gradually convert our lawn to a productive growing space - instead of tilling/removing the lawn grass entirely, we just dug a bunch of shovel-sized shallow holes throughout the lawn, broke up the soil clumps, added a tiny bit of compost, and planted the cover crop seeds directly into the holes. It was far from ideal conditions, with very poor soil, and the initial fall growth was limited, but this spring the clover rye and vetch all grew back excellently and look like they might be out-competing the remaining grass!

I planted a mix of crimson clover, oats and field peas as a green manure crop in my garden.

Quick to germinate and very useful in weed suppression, much preferred for amending the soil

Great service and great seed - it was up in less than a week!