Clover instead of grass?

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I use white clover to "rehab" spots in my yard where the clay won't let grass grow.
It adds nitrogen and biomass, stabilizes slopes, and doesn't need a lot of mowing.

 

[Charlesaf3]

clover used to be part of seed mixes - I actually put it in on purpose. Nitrogen fixing lets me put down less fertilizer.

After 10 years, and no chemicals, I've actually got a nice lawn on what used to be a poison Ivy covered sand bank. I literally have no topsoil. As long as you treat it right, grass needs very little topsoil.

I mow high (4") so the lawn is shaded and roots long. Also allows more time between mowings without taking off more than a third. And use a mix of high quality grass seed - blues and fescues.

 

[Chuck52]

I've got a fescue yard surrounded by fescue hay fields, but it is nicely mixed with white clover in the yard and red clover in the fields. Seems like the clover is increasing in the yard and perhaps the previous owner suppressed it. I don't. In fact, I wish I could easily kill the fescue in my orchard area and replace it completely with white clover. It would be good for the fruit trees and easier to keep short. I wonder if simply seeding with clover seed would at least partly get that effect. I like a mixed lawn, though I do have more dandelions than I'd like. I have patches of various low growing "weeds" that I don't mind.

Chuck

 

[rubycreekted]

I intentionally overseeded dutch white clover in my entire 2 acre lawn a year ago. I did it for the deer and wild turkeys I have all the time. They like it better than grass. I like all the advantages already stated by others here. I also like the way it looks. It thrives where I had marginal success with grass.

 

[forgeblast]

I used it to put a ground cover over what used to be an acre of brambles and multi-flora rose. The deer and turkeys are all over it this year.

 

[dave1949]

I wouldn't care for a kudzu lawn, but clover is a lot nicer to look at than grass for me. I really don't have enough dandelions either.

I have noticed dutch and the larger red clover will colonize areas of really poor soil - which is about all we have between our rocks here - areas where grass has a real hard time taking hold.

One technique for getting poor ground to have something green on it is to buy some rolls of hay that is only good for mulch. Unroll them and leave them covering the surface pretty thick. In the next growing season you will have something - clover, timothy, broom grass, whatever was in the hay field plus some weeds.

It may not suit your idea of a lawn, but you do get some ground cover which holds moisture and the weed roots start 'tenderizing' the ground a bit. Very eco-friendly too.

Dave.

 

[Guywire]

We live on pure sand. My daughter has an allergy to most grasses (when she was in the manual wheelchair, everything on the ground got onto her hands). When we finally put in a lawn, I went with white clover. I'm old enough to remember playing on the old lawns that had clover mixed in, plus I really don't want to spend time fussing with a lawn (feeding, mowing, etc). If I liked those types of outside chores, we could still live in the suburbs. The clover looks decent (to me and my family, at least) and is minimal work. That it is improving the soil at the same time is a plus.

Roy