What are perennial green manures?

Perennial Green Manures are trees, shrubs and perennial plants grown in permanent areas to provide nitrogen-rich leaves to fertilise horticultural and arable land. These leaves could include tree coppice such as willow or alder, or leafy perennials such as comfrey.

A key benefit of the practice is that the permanent fertiliser-producing areas could be situated on less productive areas of farms such as steep slopes or boggy ground. They could also serve as biodiversity reserves and build up carbon stores in roots and soil.

It’s an experimental technique which it is hoped will help farmers meet some of the many challenges they are facing, include fast-rising fertiliser costs alongside the need to increase tree cover for habitat restoration and carbon sequestration.

Farmer led research into perennial green manures

A grower group in mid-Wales is currently trialling the practice on a small scale: visit the Ecodyfi website for more information on these trials.

If you missed it, have a look at the recent PGM webinar:

To get involved in the field lab, please contact info@innovativefarmers.org

Or take this brief survey