Clover is one of the nicest things one can have in a lawn. It is a nitrogen binder, which means that it actually helps fertilize your lawn. Plus, it is a very very difficult plant to remove totally from your lawn--it will take several applications of herbicide to do the trick. This is my humble opinion, but I would think twice about removing it and rather think about trying to live with it.
Philosopher
Hi the group. I have some questions about garden work. This is my first house and I didn't have any gardening experience before. I've seen a lot of clovers on my front yard. I'm afraid they will eventully kill the grasses. I haven't yet put down the Scotts' 2nd phase stuff (called Turf Bulder with plus 2 weed control), due to the weather reason. But I plan to do it this wkend. On the product description, it says it will control the white clover. Do you think it will kill those annoying clovers? Is there any other way to get ride of them? I'm afraid to manually remove, since it will tear up my lawn too. Thanks
Agreed. Clover used to be commonly included in grass seed mixes, until herbicide companies started promoting the concept of a monoculture lawn in order to sell more product.
I find that the wild rabbits prefer clover in the lawn to almost anything else, and it helps keep them out of the vegetable garden.
Sue
Clover will not kill the grass. Clover is beneficial to a lawn. The people who object to it probably don't like the white flowers. If you are in a community where everyone has a perfect lawn, they probably have lawn services to do the dirty work. If everyone doesn't have a perfect lawn, why should you be different?
Manually removing weeds will indeed leave a hole in your lawn. For about a week. The grass, assuming it's healthy, will move in and cover the hole fairly rapidly.
[rant] You really have to ask yourself: what are you going to do with your lawn? Are you going to use it or is it just for show? If it's a cosmetic feature of your property, then just let whatever's green grow there. It will all look the same from the road. If you are going to use it (kids playing, barbeques, lawn parties, croquet, whatever) you want to match the grass surface to its intended use (heavy use from kids, short trimmed grass for croquet, etc.). If the kids are going to play on the lawn do you want it covered with pesticides for the insects and weeds? Live with the imperfections. [end rant]Don't cut the grass too short. Longer grass will shade out weeds more quickly and is more resistant to browning in the dry summer months.
NetComm888 wrote:
If you have TRUE clover, it will NOT kill the grass! In fact it will HELP keep the grass growing. Clover is NOT a weed. I've seen lots of public places that have clover in their lawns so they don't have to feed it as much.
The flowers are not the problem. It's the blasted bees! Bees and children do not mix well.
-Chris
What is wrong with clover?
We have clover and bees and three kids and all co-exist peacefully. The kids just needed to learn how to behave around them.
philos> > Clover will not kill the grass. Clover is beneficial to a lawn. The
Exactly. It's just like teaching kids about all the other large and small dangers of the world. During the short time the clover is in bloom, they should wear sandals and/or watch were they are stepping. It's an excellent opportunity to teach them about what bees do, and why they are so important in the grand scheme of things.
A lot of people have an almost irrational fear of bees and wasps, yet they will unhesitatingly drive on the freeway and engage in other everyday risky behaviors. I love to amaze the neighborhood kids by gently "petting" bumblebees (a warm day, a good nectar/pollen source, and a gently touch, and the bees will ignore you) and teaching them how to peacefully co-exist with these creatures. If you don't panic and flail around, the bees and wasps generally would prefer to leave you alone as well.
If you inadvertently disturb a yellowjacket nest, it can be a bit problematic, I admit. If you are allergic to the venom, you have a legitimate cause for concern, of course, but otherwise, what's the big deal? I have loads of flowering plants, and rotting fallen fruit in the fall, and I get stung perhaps once a summer, if that. It hurts for a bit, then it goes away.
Sue
yes. And groundhogs and deer too. It is good to have clover around.
My great-grandparents had honeybees, plus there were wild bees all over heck. We learned a healthy respect for short-tempered hornets, but the bees were innocuous. Grampa owned all this protective equipment he could've worn while working with the hives, but he never bothered to put any of it on.
One family member had a bee allergy & being stung could have meant a headlong rush for the hospital or he'd choke to death. Or so everyone said, & he certainly was scared of the bees. Bu such an emergency never to my recollection ever actually happened.
Anyhow, if Chris's idea of getting rid of clover because it attracts bees made any sense, so would getting rid of ALL flowers & fruit trees of any kind. In my garden I plant things TO attract pollinators, & bee-watching can be as much fun as bird-watching. I'll even reach out & pet the bees as they glean flowers.
-paghat the ratgirl
When I was a kid and we lived in West Los Angeles, we had over 100 roses that bloomed all year round and we had a good sized viggie garden too, and we always had bees around, and during the almost 10 years at that address, none of us got stung by a bee.
Bees, butterflies, birds and children DO mix very well! Teach the children respect, consideration and gentleness. They will then learn what the bees already know.
Sherman.
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