No one wants to go through the winter with no clothes, not even the soil that grows our plants. So, jacket up the soil in cover crops.

These hardworking plants can add organic matter and aerate the soil, protect it from compaction caused by rain, suppress weeds and reduce erosion – some even add nitrogen to the soil, according to Brooke Edmunds, an Oregon State University Extension Service horticulturist.

"They're really nice," she said. "You can plant them and forget about them, and then kick them out when it's time."

Not a bad deal for an almost no-maintenance plant. All that's needed...