Best Clover Seeds For Your Lawn

Clover For Lawn FAQ

If you want to grow a clover lawn, there are some things you might have wondered about, such as if clover is a good alternative to grass and if your furry friends will be able to safely walk on it.

Does clover make a good lawn?

If you want an alternative to growing grass, especially if soil conditions in your region are not up to the task, you should consider growing clover instead.

It’s environmentally friendly and extremely low maintenance because it doesn’t require regular mowing. Best of all, clover naturally attracts pollinators, such as butterflies and bees, to your garden.

Not only does clover remain green, but it draws nitrogen from the environment so that it can nourish and replenish the soil. This makes it work as its own fertilizer, again cutting back on how much gardening maintenance you need to do. 

Since clover grows dense and thick, and it spreads quickly, it crowds out weeds so that they can’t gain a foothold in your lawn.

That said, there are some potential drawbacks to be aware of when planting clover in your lawn. These include the following: 

• Clover can stain clothing more than grass. These stains are difficult to eliminate so be careful when having picnics in your garden! 
• It can handle foot traffic, but it should be combined with grass to ensure an even tougher and more durable lawn. 
• Since it’s a short-lived perennial, you might have to replant your clover every three years. This is especially the case if it doesn’t self-sow. 
• Clover attracts bees, which can be problematic if you have, or someone else in your household has, an allergy to these pollinators.
  

What kind of clover is best for lawns?

Some of the most popular types of clover to use in your lawn include Dutch white clover and microclover, which are both beneficial and durable. Dutch clover grows a bit taller than microclover, which is a bit more compact.

There are some other differences between the two. 

• Dutch white clover stays green all year ‘round and produces a large number of flowers to attract bees. It spreads quickly and can be seen as invasive.
  
• By comparison, microclover is a variation of white clover but it has smaller leaves and doesn’t bloom in such a large quantity. Since it grows closer to the ground, it’s ideal for use as ground cover.
  

There are other types of clover that can be used in your lawn, but they’re not as popular. They still have benefits, though. These include the following:

• Strawberry clover. This grows well in all types of soil, so it’s versatile, but it doesn’t thrive in areas where there are extreme temperatures. It gets its name because of how it has florets that ripen and become pink to mimic strawberries.
  
• Red clover. Not to be confused with strawberry clover, red clover is a bit more tender than other clover varieties. It blooms purple flowers – not red as you might have assumed – so it’s beautiful in wildflower gardens. It has a fast-growing rate and can tolerate a variety of soil types. 

Is clover safe for dogs?

If you own dogs, you’ll naturally want to be sure that if they eat clover it won’t harm them. The good news is that clover is safe for dogs. However, when consumed in large quantities, it can cause unpleasant side effects such as diarrhea.

It can also cause kidney damage, as a result of how it contains oxalate crystals. These are toxic to dogs.

It’s also good to keep an eye on your clover to be sure that it’s not infested with fungus. This is toxic to dogs, so make sure that it’s not present on your clover before your dog eats it. 

While you might want to keep an eye on Fido to ensure he doesn’t eat too much clover, you’ll be pleased to know that it doesn’t taste that great so your dog’s unlikely to want to eat a lot of it.

It’s also reassuring to know that since you don’t need to use chemicals to treat your clover lawn, this prevents your dogs from coming into contact with harmful chemicals, such as herbicides. 

Can you mow clover?

While you might love the idea of planting clover in your lawn because of how it doesn’t have to be mowed like grass in order to prevent it from getting out of hand, there are times when you can and should mow clover. 

If you want to remove the flowers your clover blooms, you can mow them. However, when first established a clover lawn won’t bloom until after its first year. After that time has passed, you can mow the lawn once per week to manage its flowers.

You can cut the clover down to about two inches to remove its blooms, and then allow it to grow a little more to three inches.

Another instance when it’s beneficial to mow clover is if you’re growing it with grass. This will ensure that your lawn looks neat and tidy. Cutting your clover regularly will also help to keep it healthy and keep annoying weeds at bay.

However, note that during times of drought or extreme heat, you shouldn’t mow your clover. This will put stress on the plants and kill them off. 

Can you use clover for a year to replenish soil for a lawn?

Planting clover has many benefits to your soil. These include the following:

• Clover has a combination of tap roots and fibrous roots that aerate the soil so that grass can grow healthier in it. 
• Clover is durable and protects the soil from both water and wind erosion. 
• Decomposing clover helps to add organic matter to the soil to nourish it. 
• Since clover is full of healthy nutrients for your soil, such as nitrogen, it prevents you from needing to use fertilizers. 
• Clover works well as a natural mulch so that you can protect your soil. 

You can grow clover for just a year. Annual clover varieties are a good choice as they complete their life cycles in one year. But, perennial clover such as white Dutch clover grows again reliably.

This is what makes it more ideal to use as ground clover than annual clover species, as the latter requires reseeding if you want to keep them for longer than a year. Perennial clover self-seeds so it spreads well. 

Conclusion

Growing a lush, healthy lawn doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming, or feel impossible. Switching over to a clover lawn, either on its own or mixed into your existing grass, can make all the difference.

You might not have known which clover was best for your garden, but after reading our reviews of the best clover seeds for your lawn you have five options to take your lawn to the next level. 

We’ve also featured some important information you should know about planting clover and how to make it most effective, such as what clover varieties are best for lawns. 

Resources:

• TreeHugger.com