Clover is a hardy self-seeding perennial that springs up everywhere across the GTA. Usually considered invasive and an unwelcome visitor in urban lawns, there’s actually a lot to love about this little plant.
And it’s easier to control than you may think!
I’d like to explore the benefits of having this little plant around, and what organic methods you can use to keep its presence at bay if it does make an appearance in your yard.
Benefits of Clover
Improved lawn appearance and performance
One of the benefits of Clover stems from the shape that Clover grows in. It grows out to the side, not straight up like grass.
This propensity to grow outwards is actually a valued feature of Clover by castle and sports field groundskeepers around the world. In fact, the best sports playing fields in Europe contain up to one-quarter Clover! Why is that?
Grass alone is very slippery – it grows straight up, and even the veins within the grass follow that same parallel direction. Adding a little bit of Clover, which grows in an outward direction, creates more layers for friction. Because Clover grows so thick, just a little of it improves the thickness, colour, and playability of professional sports fields. You can notice this benefit in your yard, too. A small amount of Clover can help prevent slips and falls, and provide some cushioning for kids who are tumbling in the yard.
Castle grounds in Europe, too, contain up to one-quarter Clover, as it provides the rich, luxurious colour and texture we admire! It’s often the first green to appear after winter, and it is drought-resistant so it will help keep your lawn green even during the hottest weeks of summer. If you allow some Clover in your yard, you too can enjoy the improved colour and texture that Clover brings!
Improved lawn health and nutrition
Many homeowners are discouraged when Clover pops up in their lawn because it makes their turf appear nonuniform. But maintaining a uniform lawn is working against nature, and is more expensive and time consuming compared to how you can get an even healthier lawn by letting a little of it grow. Here’s why.
A lawn made up of 100% grass is considered a monoculture, which means that each blade of grass requires the same nutrients as its neighbour. Maintaining a monoculture lawn gets expensive because you have to replenish all those nutrients yourself.
Lawn grass, for example, is an especially heavy nitrogen feeder. Left to its own devices, lawn grass will deplete its soil of nitrogen within a single season. That means a homeowner could be fertilizing every season to replenish their soil with nitrogen if they want a healthy green lawn. This can get very expensive and time-consuming, depending on the size of your yard.
…Or, you can get some Clover to fertilize your lawn for free!
Unlike grass, which feeds on nitrogen from the soil, Clover actually extracts nitrogen from the air through its leaves and channels it down to the soil through its roots. When Clover extracts more nitrogen than it can consume on its own, it ends up spreading the nitrogen to the soil around it – effectively fertilizing the neighbouring plants!
When you have a bit of nitrogen-extracting Clover in your lawn, this self-fertilizing plant will share the wealth of its extra nitrogen with all its green friends (your lawn!) around it. You will not need to fertilize your lawn as often if you let a little Clover grow.
So if you see a little Clover on your lawn, you can think of it as fertilizing your green space, not ruining it!
Keeping Clover at bay
Clover does grow fast, however, and some maintenance is required to keep it at a healthy population – about one-quarter of your turf.
If your lawn is more than one-quarter Clover, don’t go crazy with spot-spraying planticide because you’ll never win. Clover roots are very shallow, which means they are quicker to respond to nutrients and rain, and can easily recover from an application of planticide. Also, Clover disperses its seeds over great distances, which means you won’t know where you have Clover until it grows!
Again, it’s better to work with nature than against it. Instead of trying to eliminate your excess Clover after it’s grown, you’re better off outcompeting the Clover seeds from growing in the first place. You can do this by overseeding your lawn with turf grass once a year. Turf seed that is sowed in the spring will outcompete Clover seeds for space and nutrients, keeping its growth at bay.
This is what the pros in Europe do. The groundskeepers at castles and the best sports playing fields overseed with turf grass every year to maintain an optimal mix of grasses and Clover.
If your lawn is especially overrun with huge patches of Clover, some manual removal of the plant at its roots may be necessary, and then grass seed should be sown afterward. You can overseed again in the fall if you still have a high Clover population.
If you need assistance
If you would like help introducing or maintaining Clover levels in your own green space, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We provide consultations to help you develop a care strategy for your lawn, and we can also provide all the care services mentioned above.
With a little bit of planning, you can have a beautiful, thriving lawn that is easier to maintain because it’s working as nature intended!