Clover Control

[David Hare-Scott]

Not so. Here it is part of a mixed pasture that includes some heavy feeders who like nitrogen, eg kikuyu.

Farmers of yesteryear knew

Here clover is seen as a bonus and it is encouraged and in some cases seeded into the pasture. It is nutritious and loved by both horses and cattle. If your pasture grows clover you certainly would use that land.

Improve the conditions for the lawn grass, and

Not necessarily. At certain seasons clover grows better than grass at others not so well. I have had clover in the spring so thick the pasture looked white and you could hear the hum of the bees wherever you went. Later in the year the same paddock produced abundant grass as the clover retreated, the paddock has dense coverage (except in drought) and shows no sign of choking out the clover which comes back each year.

You are giving clover a bad reputation which is not deserved but I doubt the OP is concerned about grazing animals so this is not really that relevant.

David

[Dan L.]

David is correct. Clover helps in fixing nitrogen to the soil therefore helps the lawn. The clover will retreat and lawn should look better.

I find when using the so called weed and feed stuff the lawn looks worse over the years for a short term benefit. I am sure the good bugs do not like herbicides also. The the bad bugs move in like grubs and look out. Lawn addicted to chemicals.

[FarmI]

????? Since clover is a nitorgen fixer, the soil where clover was growing should be a prime place to plant.

[George]

absolutely, farmers use clover in paddocks as a nitrogen fixer. Its good stuff.

rob

[Una]

That may be, *after* the clover has fixed nitrogen for a season or two.

Clover easily outcompetes grasses where the soil has very low nitrogen but ample water. I am dealing with a lawn that was established decades ago on sterile fill dirt, no topsoil. The lawn was treated all those years with chemical fertilizers and weed killers, and had all clippings removed to the local landfill, so it never developed any topsoil nor built any reservoir of nitrogen. One area, near a gutter downspout, has ample water and a great crop of clover. It is very green but has stems like wire and mowing makes it look just awful. I mostly leave the clover alone, knowing that in a few years when it has built up enough nitrogen in the soil the grasses will gain the advantage. In the meantime I have developed several very large compost piles, and most of the finished compost is going onto the lawn. Now the lawn is mowed with a mulching blade, and all vegetable debris remains on the property.

Una

[enigma]

"Frank McElrath" wrote in news:ht4emt$sla$ [e-mail]:

why do you consider clover a "problem"? when i reseed, i use white clover.

nah, you'd just kill it. might as well have a barren brown yarn. that really eliminates mowing. lee

[enigma]

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in news:ht4g8k$buc$ [e-mail]:

well, it's low growing so you don't have to mow as often, it has flowers that the bees really love, and it doesn't brown out too badly if it's dry & a tiny bag (half pound) of seed covers 7000 square foot. horrible stuff, clover... lee

[enigma]

zxcvbob wrote in news: [e-mail]:

is creeping charlie the plant with the round leaves, purple flowers & rather distinctive smell? i think AKA ground ivy? if so, as a brewer you should know it can be used in place of hops... lee

[David E. Ross]

The catastrophe is that it spreads to flower beds and crowds out plants that you want to grow.

[Bill who putters]

Yes but clover may increase the drag on a golf ball which may be of import somewhere. Some weird folks eat it. Whew!!!

[enigma]

"David E. Ross" wrote in news:d5SdnQHLuPzuHGPWnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

really? i have lamb's quarter, oxalis, stinging nettle, & a few other odd weeds in my flower beds, but no clover. i have used clover as a cover crop & tilled it in in my veggie garden. no clover. it's not that big an issue. lee

[Tony]

From my 40 some years experience with clover in lawns, I've never seen a big problem with it spreading to flower beds. Not that it doesn't, but it's a lot easier to pull clover out of a mulched flower bed then it is to pull grass that spread into the same flower bed.

Tony

[zxcvbob]

Yes, ground ivy. Do you have any more info about this? I'm pulling out pounds of it from an overgrown flower bed; it's never been sprayed.

Bob

[Una]

has some sources.

70 images.

Una

[Billy]

Lee, is this Chinese white clover, that is used for a living mulch?

[zxcvbob]

I saw all that. I meant specific information about using glechoma as a flavoring/bittering herb for beer.

Bob

[Billy]

I would think that would require brewing trials. I suppose you could get some neutral beer, like Miller or Bud, and steep the clover over night.

[David E. Ross]

Phew! A lot of people are defending clover. But in the present situation it's a plant growing where is is not wanted. And the present question is how to be rid of it. Instead of defending clover, advise McElrath how to remove it without resorting to WMD.

I have two daylilies growing where I don't want them. I don't like the color of these two. I don't like the fact that they bloom only 2-3 times a year instead of almost constantly like some of my other daylilies. And I don't like the fact that they are crowded some other plants that I want to grow in my garden. When I remove AND TRASH these daylilies, I certainly don't want a herd of daylily defenders trying to lynch me.

And when McElrath gets rid of his unwanted clover, don't lynch him either.

[despen]

Clover is the least of my lawn problems. I used Weed Be Gone this year with pretty good results on all the other weeds, but it didn't appear to do anything to the clover. So I'd say Google it. This looks promising:

[kate]

I didn't actually follow the link - to each his own. My wish is that someday clover is a friend to you all, not to be eradicated, but who knows if my wish is a good one?

Bees love white clover - I guess not good if you've got kids. I was afraid of bees when I was a kid. Now I'm growing old and depend on red clover to keep night sweats and hot flashes at bay. Works really well for me.

If it's a bee problem, as soon as you mow the blossoms, no more bees visiting the clover.