Establishing and maintaining a vineyard ground cover, and adding compost, can be one of the first activities cut during times of tight budgets. Should it be? Experience shows that ground cover and soil health is absolutely critical over the medium to long-term to keep vineyards viable.
Soil carbon % one of the most critical indicators of soil health, and keeping ground cover is also one of the central tenets of regenerative agriculture.
If you are going to do it, do it effectively...