Clover Comeback: Learn All About the Benefits of White Clover
At one time, most yards had at least some white clover growing in them. It was a world before chemicals, and clover was part of seed blends because it improved the soil and the condition of the lawn. Gardeners are beginning to recognize the benefits of clover in lawn grass mixtures—or even as a replacement for grass. Learn more.
Move on from the quest for a perfect lawn of just turf grass. It’s not natural and ends up requiring chemicals. Before World War II and the advent of chemicals, clover was used as a great companion with turf grass. It was added to seed blends, along with fescues, ryegrasses, and Kentucky bluegrass, because it helped grass thrive.
See the incredible benefits of clover below, and you’ll wonder why you don’t grow clover!
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Benefits of a Clover Lawn
- Being a legume, the clover plant fixes poor soil! Clover has the ability to convert nitrogen into fertilizer using bacteria in its root system, practically eliminating the need for additional fertilization.
- White clover (Trifolium repens) is the most common clover for lawns. Left uncut, white clover grows 4 to 8 inches tall and produces small white flowers that are often tinged with pink. It’s a rapid spreader that crowds out broadleaf weeds while growing harmoniously with grass.
- Like white clover, red clover (Trifolium pratense) is native to Europe, but has been naturalized in North America. It produces attractive purple flowers and typically grows taller than white clover (a little too tall compared to lawn grass).
- Clover is among the first plants to green up and thrive in the spring.
- It’s an extremely drought-resistant plant and will keep its cool-green color even during the hottest and driest parts of summer.
- Clover will also thrive in areas that are poorly drained or too shady for a conventional lawn.
- The flowers not only create a beautiful visual effect but also bring in bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects that prey on garden pests.
- Honeybees rarely sting when they are away from their hive, but if they make you uncomfortable or you are allergic to bee stings, simply have the lawn mowed more often when clover is in bloom. Or, grow clover on surfaces where there is little activity on the lawn, and the desired result is more aesthetic than functional.
Planting Clover Lawns
You can plant clover by itself for ground cover, but it stands up better to foot traffic when combined with lawn grass.
- Only 5 to 10% of the weight of tiny clover seed must be mixed with the recommended amount of grass seed to create a thick stand.
- When adding clover to an existing lawn, first mow it close and remove any thatch to allow the seed to fall to the soil surface.
- To sow clover alone, mix it with enough sand to facilitate spreading. About 2 ounces of clover is needed for every 1,000 square feet of lawn.
- Since clover has a low growth habit, it can be left unmowed all season long if desired. Alternatively, it can be mowed a couple of times a year to maintain its appearance.
Luck of the Clover
Finding a four-leaf clover is considered good luck. Surely, it must be because, on average, there is only one of them for every 10,000 clovers with three leaves. But even if you never find a four-leaf specimen, just having clover growing in your lawn will keep it greener longer with minimum care, which we consider to be extremely good luck.
Looking for more ground cover options? See a few more hardy ground cover plants.
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I have small patches of three kinds of clover in my front yard. One patch has white flowers with numerous 4 leaves. My grandkids have always loved searching for them. One has pink flowers and the other yellow flowers. They were already growing in my yard when I moved there 30 years ago. I also have purple violets growing in my back yard that I treasure. I have to be quick to pick the flowers for a tiny bouquet before someone gets the urge to mow early. I’m not impressed with a perfect lawn. I even love to see dandelions in the yard so the grandkids can blow the seed off the stems. ☺ï¸
More a question than comment, if there is another place for ??'s please inform. Does the white clover of today still have the magnificent fragrance as the clover of the 50 and 60's, please.
When you mow white clover it has that wonderful "just mown hay" smell I love. Even the lawn mowers smell good when they're brought into the garage. I haven't noticed that the clover smells like anything when it's just sitting there though- just smells clean and green. I'll have to see if I've been missing something. I remember the wonderful scent of marigolds in the afternoon sun though, umm, what a wonderful smell that was, too. The flower breeders seem to have taken the good smells of flowers away at the same time they got rid of white clover that used to be everywhere. It has diminished the joys of life we were lucky enough to have experienced.
I have been looking for white clover for years. I went to the garden center and they said it was a weed and don't sell it. Anyone know where I can get it?
I get my Dutch white clover at the business that sells seeds and animal feed for farmers. Sometimes they're called feed bins. Many farmers of the more enlightened type plant clover as a cover crop, either to plow under, or , if truly enlightened, as a permanent no till cover crop they do their no-till planting in. You can also order it from Amazon but be careful as many of their seed sellers sell old seeds that don't germinate well, or at all. Make sure to look at the comments and that the co.'s seeds germinate. I paid about $30 for 5 pounds of seeds. It goes a long way and you can usually buy it in lots of 1 pound. That's still a lot of seeds. Mix them with something like sand to make them spread out when you fling them. Very small seeds.
Ebay
3 lbs for 30 bucks, several suppliers go for highest raiting
Canadian Tire stores.
Check a local Feed store. They sell it by the pound. It is a forage crop.
Have you checked on the Internet for anyone selling clover? It's a medicinal herb. I was lucky enough to discover I had white clover growing in my backyard, last year. I'm wondering if I can transplant some of it into the front yard. I can't believe clover is so hard to come by these days. All of these wonderful herbs and plants are being killed for the sake of a green lawn.
When I didn't have much clover yet I would go around my yard digging up clumps of it, take it to a place where I needed to start some, dig a quick hole, push the clover clump into the hole, step on it lightly to seat it well in it's new spot and water it once a day for a few days and it should grow right in. I have done it many times and never had one fail. It will take a long time for it to spread, though. If you want it to spread faster don't mow it until it's reseeded itself- which seems to take quite a long time. I have never had the patience to wait until my white flowers turned into seeds so I don't know how long it takes. Alternatively I have dug up trowels full of clover and grown them in a pot or planter. That way you don't have to worry about mowing them down or how long it's taking for them to seed. Once their seeds are ready (brown and shake seeds out of their cubby holes), then you can plant them. People make a big deal out of planting clover but just do what nature does and you will be fine. Nature just drops the seeds on ground and in spring, when they get 4-5 days of rain, they grow. You can buy Dutch white clover seeds any place that sells seeds or feed to farmers as many of them plant white clover for cover crops.
