Buckwheat is something of a wonder plant, and it certainly can do wonders for your garden too. Essentially a cover crop, or a crop that is not harvested, buckwheat is not only ideal as it is fast-growing to the point of beating most weeds: it also improves soil condition and prevents erosion.
If you have a patch in your garden that’s looking a little bare, you can plant buckwheat at any stage during the growing season, and it will take. If you want to plant it as a cover crop, you can do so early in the season and then cut it down and till it into the soil, and plant something else. This way you will have effectively grown your own fertiliser and have a patch of soil that’s rich in nutrients and ready for another planting.
A Living Mulch
Instead of spending a fortune on fertilizer in your garden or on a temporary allotment, you can use buckwheat as a natural mulch. If you have empty spaces, growing buckwheat is an excellent idea to fill them, and when you are ready to plant something else, you can simply cut it down and mix it in with the soil.
Buckwheat also stops weeds taking over, and as it grows so quickly, it can choke any weeds that are starting to crop up too.
Keeping Soil Fertile
Soil can become fallow and devoid of nutrients, and buckwheat can be used to improve its quality. In some cases, a soil remediation service like https://soilfix.co.uk/services/groundwater-soil-remediation-services would be needed, but in others, buckwheat can help maintain the soil’s fertility, as when it grows it retains minerals in its roots, stems and leaves. When it is tilled back into the soil, these essential nutrients are released, and the organic matter from the plants also adds extra richness to the topsoil.
Bringing Back Bees
Buckwheat is also a great plant if you want to attract bees, as its flowers can produce a large amount of nectar over the course of the season. This makes it a very valuable resource for all pollinating insects. As buckwheat grows so fast, it flowers quickly too, and this means that you can bring in the bees within a month or two, which is wonderful if you also want to start a hive to make honey!
