Seeding clover

[S Putnik]

Hi all,

I do brush clearing and rototilling as a side business. Over time I have an increasing number of customers asking me to provide additional services such as reseeding. The latest is a customer who wants me to reseed with clover. I've done some research and found a good variety for the application. What I haven't found is how to spread the seed. I understand that clover seed is very fine. Do I need a grass drill? Can clover be broadcast? The end goal for the project is a low maintenance, low fire hazard ground cover for a 2 acre former pasture.

Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deerherd]

I plant a lot of clover and use a bag seeder and yes it is very fine. Try and get the seed with the innoculant already on. Here is a picture of the seeder I use:

 

[bcjmmac]

I generally add it to grass seed or broadcast small areas by hand. Anyhow, you could also mix the clover seed with an annual, such as annual rye grass, to enable you to use your current equipment. They both germinate quickly so should suppress most weeds.

 

[Piston]

Someone told me that clover is a good thing to plant in unhealthy soil, as it grows well but also puts a lot of nutrients back into the soil, improving it. is this true?

 

[Deerherd]

Clovers have the ability to obtain Nitrogen from the atmosphere and "fix" it to the nodules on the roots. Some call it "green manure" and depending on the species can put back from 100 to 200 lbs of nitrogen per acre.

 

[cqaigy2]

We use a broadcaster like Dave's. There's a number of different clovers, annual and perennial. One we've had good comments about, is crimson clover thickly sown it make a brilliant crimson field, it's an annual but will somewhat reseed and eventually get replaced. Like bcjmmac says, mix in some perennial clover and it will take over where the crimson doesn't come back. Your still going to have some blackberry maintenance because those pesky birds insist on eating them and spreading the seed from over head. Around here it works best if sown in fall to take advantage of the moisture and mild winter temps, come spring, your field will have a good start and come up pretty lush.

 

[DT86]

Clovers have the ability to obtain Nitrogen from the atmosphere and "fix" it to the nodules on the roots. Some call it "green manure" and depending on the species can put back from 100 to 200 lbs of nitrogen per acre.

That was almost word for word for what I was going to reply, until I read yours! Actually alfalfa, beans and clover; which are all legumes, fix nitrogen from the atmosphere.

 

[Piston]

That was almost word for word for what I was going to reply, until I read yours! Actually alfalfa, beans and clover; which are all legumes, fix nitrogen from the atmosphere.

Good to know, thanks! Does it do well in acidic soil? I have a pine forest that I'm slowly clearing.

 

[yomax4]

Clover is not clover.There are a bunch of types. All will grow simply by throwing out by hand but some are annual ( crimson ) some are tall and spindly perennial ( sweet ) some are dense and tall perennial ( red ). Make sure you buy the correct type for your situation. For ground cover I like White Dutch. It grows fast and spreads fast and stays low to the ground. If it will be used for deer food you will want Ladino and or Alsike.The creatures including Turkeys love those 2 types. All perennial clovers will reseed for more bulk next year lasting up to 5 years before you need to re-seed. You can buy clover at nearly any farm seed store and you don't really need it coated with innoculant just buy an extra pound. Regular ladino is around $3.00#..Inooculated is 3x that.. Sow just before a rain so the birds don't eat half of your seeds. Mow 2-3x yr about 10" tall the 1st mowing and 8" after that. It will look shotty the 1st year but will really impress you the 2nd year.. Good Luck..

 

[DT86]

Good to know, thanks! Does it do well in acidic soil? I have a pine forest that I'm slowly clearing.

I think it depends somewhat on the type of clover as to how well they do. If I remember right a pH of 5.5-8 is about right but they do not do well in soil that is very damp and retains water. I'll need to check in my forges book or online. Hum, wonder where that book is.....

 

[whistlepig]

Clover can be broadcast and not drilled. After the clover seed is broadcast it's best to use a lawn roller over the seed to insure contact with the ground. That's assuming the soil is prepped right. That includes soil that is worked correctly, proper fertilizer, and the proper PH.

 

[cqaigy2]

Nice info to know yomax4!

 

[Deerherd]

I feel if you want to maximize nutrient loading and save money on fertilizer, inoculation is important. If you are planting for deer, just throw out another pound or two.

http://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov//references/public/IA/AgronomyTECHnote11.pdf

 

[mx842]

One thing about clover, don't plant it anywhere near your yard or even use the same mower to cut the field as you do your lawn because once it takes over it's hard to get rid of. You can't kill it with fire! When I first bought my place I cleared out about two ac. where I was going to put my house. I also cleared out a little spot for a food plot for the deer and turkeys in the woods and planted some stuff I got at the feed store. I also added in 2 lbs of ladino clover and a lb or two of the red Crimson clover to the 5 lb bag of pre mixed game plot mix. Yeah it was over seeded to say the least because the plot was only about 50' sq. but what the heck the seed was cheap and I figured the birds were going to eat half of it anyway. I think every seed spouted though and within two weeks the whole area was green.

Once my house was built I did everything by the book, soil analysis, watering, seeded my lawn with high dollar seeds and only about a third of the seed came up. Reseeded again with the same results. Paid a high dollar landscape company to come in and start all over and in the end, the same results. They came out several times and reseeded and put down different chemicals but I could never get the nice clean lawn I wanted to have. I fired the landscape company and hired a lawn care company that came out several times a year to fertilize and spray for weed control and after three years of this I decided I was just throwing my money away paying these people for a service that wasn't getting results so I fired them too. They wanted to strip the whole yard and put down sod to get rid of the weeds and I said, I thought that was what I was paying you for in the first place. They said there were so many kinds of grasses and weeds.......and yes, clover which had somehow managed to take root in places in the yard, that the best thing to do was to put down weed killer late in the summer and kill everything and prepare the soil and reseed again in the fall. We worked out a deal and that's what we did but three years later I was back to square one only by this time the clover was all over the yard, a little patch here and there until the yard was almost all clover and weeds.

I couldn't figure out how the clover got in the yard because the food plot was 500 feet away in the woods but one day after I had mowed the food plot and as I was riding back to the house to the garage, I noticed all those pretty white and red flowers laying on top of the mowing deck it hit me as to how I ended up with all that clover in my yard. I mean, it's nice and thick and looks good when you first cut it but the next day there comes these pretty flowers sticking up all over the place and makes the yard not a fun place to walk bare footed because of all the bees. Getting clover out of your yard is almost impossible, almost like trying to get rid of wire grass. I have a spot in my driveway that I spray with round up every week but it keep coming back taunting me as if to say, Is that all you have got?

I pretty much gave up on the idea of a nice clean yard after spending thousands of dollars and just let nature call the shots as to what grows out there. Heck, after thinking about it I wanted a home in the woods so I guess it fitting that what comes up in the yard be natural.

 

[bcjmmac]

I have always added clover to my lawn - even when I lived in the city. Don't have to fertilize, resists drought/stays green all summer so don't have to water. Don't mind the flowers - especially now as we have bees.

 

[cqaigy2]

I like the clover in the yard too.

 

[S Putnik]

Thanks again for all of the great info and personal experience.

It's about time for me to get back to this project and I'm not sure what a properly prepared clover seedbed looks like. What I'm coming from is established pasture grass of some kind. It gets really tall in the summer. Is it enough to mow, disc, and broadcast the seed? Or do I really need to kill off the grass with spray and then plow/rototill?

 

[mx842]

I don't think you would need to go the weed killer route as clover once it gets rooted will compete nicely with most native weeds in your area. I would mow the field as low as you can and then disk it well. It might be a good idea if you don't have a pulverizer of similar attachment.....something like this one shown here: ( BEFCO - Products - Ground Engage Equipment - Soil Pulverizers ), To attach a weighted board or timber behind the disk on the last few passes through the field and this will help level out the dirt and hopefully mash down and smooth over most large clods and clumps and leave a nice smooth surface.

I wouldn't worry too much about adding fertilizer to the field at this point, if that is you are only planting clover because this will benefit the other weeds more than the weed you are planting. You need to fertilize the clover patch only after you see a couple leafs appear on the newly sprouted plants and a liquid type would be best for this.

You would however want to put down fertilizer if you are planting a mixture of clover and other grasses and I would check the PH level of the field and you will most likely have to add lime. I would add my lime after you mow the field and disk it the first time, then let it sit for a week or two to let the old vegetation dry out and die and also to give the lime a chance to start to work.

Depending on how you plan on seeding the field, by a hand seeder or one that attaches on to the PTO on the tractor I like to mix the seed with dry course sand to help distribute the seed evenly throughout the field, the sand helps to hold the seed in the hopper to keep it from pouring out too fast and putting down too much in spots. Even the smallest setting on most seed spreaders is too large for clover seed.

The sand seed mixture is only needed if you are planting clover seed only. If you are planing on putting something else in the field along with the clover like Annual Rye or some other type grass just mix it well with the grass seed and you should be fine. Once it is planted I like to go back over the field with a light drag, you don't want to dig into the soil, just drag over the top to help distribute and cover the seeds somewhat. A piece of old chain link fence about 8' or 10' sq. dragged behind the tractor works great for this.

 

[S Putnik]

Thank you! That is really good info.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Had grass seed with lawn clover thrown in when the house was built back in 2000. There's still a bit left, but mostly it's gone au natural with lots of different native grasses and weeds. Probably enough edible plants in it to eat veggies for a week.