A three-year experiment was carried out to compare four treatments: traditional tillage, natural herbage covering, subterranean clover (T. yanninicum cv Trikkala) and burr medic (M. polymorpha cv Anglona) cover crops. A randomised complete design with three replicates was utilised. Data on emergence, herbage covering rate, weeds presence, canopy height, length of vegetative cycle, dry matter production, seed bank dynamics and re-establishment were collected. Grape yield and branches weight of vine were determined. Sugar content, acidity and pH of must were measured. Natural covering affected grape yield negatively. No negative effect on grape yield and must quality was observed using the annual self-reseeding legumes compared to the tillage treatment. Subterranean clover was found to be more adapted than burr medic to control the growth of weeds and on average increased grape yield significantly.