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I'm trying to start cultivating a shady plot of dirt where nothing currently grows. The soil is quite compacted, and I think the first thing we need is a green mulch or cover crop that will do well in a shady area. I did dig in some half finished compost this spring, mostly because we hadn't yet acquired our second bin and the first was overflowing. So there are some spots where there's a lot of organic material in the soil.

Wondering then: what's a good green mulch for shade?

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Where are you, what's the climate? If you're planting soon, what's the weather been like lately and what do you expect it to be in the near future (e.g. are you entering a rainy or dry season)? What are your goals for this green mulch (green manure?) -- till it under to add organic matter, cut it for compost (in either of these cases you want to optimize for biomass production), weed suppression, scavenging nutrients, permanent "mulch", etc? For crop ideas, see: hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/lab/covercrops/index.php -- add more detail and I can maybe make suggestions. – bstpierre Jul 11 '12 at 15:31

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