Micro Clover

I like to grow something new every year choosing both edible and ornamental plants. 

Over the last three years I have slowly grown my selection of ground cover plants from chamomiles to Irish Moss and then creeping thyme last year. All three are proving to be very popular so this year I am adding a new plant to the list- White clover.

Clover is seen as a weed in most gardens but this wasn’t always the case. Like the thyme, these plants were very popular in the past and whole lawns were made from them until the rise of herbicides to eliminate weeds in the grass in the 1950’s. 

With more awareness of how much energy lawns need these alternatives, which require less water, fertilizer, compost, herbicide, and weeding than conventional lawns are growing in popularity. They do however need a lot more maintenance!

There are two types of clover planting: pure clover lawns, which are best for areas with low or moderate traffic, and mixed grass-clover lawns, which are best for playing fields and other high traffic areas.

Advantages of Clover

It stays green all summer, with little or no watering. It is relatively drought-tolerant and it greens up early in spring and remains green most of the year. 

It requires little or no mowing. White clover grows just 2-8 inches tall and requires little or no mowing to keep it looking tidy. A cut in summer does keep the flowers to a minimum though if needed.

It attracts beneficial insects such as bees which, in turn, help pollinate your garden. It also attracts parasitic wasps which feed on aphids, scales, and whiteflies. 

It never needs fertilizer. Cover is a nitrogen-fixing legume, a plant that essentially creates its own fertilizer. Grass that is intermixed with clover will be healthier and greener and require less care than grass planted alone which is why it’s great in amenity areas.

It out-competes other weeds and is very persistent.  It has a dense root structure that allows it to easily out-compete most other weeds and reduce the need for herbicides.

Clover grows well in poor soil. It tolerates a wide variety of soil conditions, including the poor-quality subsoil common around many new homes.

Clover tolerates compacted soil better than grasses do and even tends reduce compaction, eliminating the need to aerate.

Disadvantages of Clover

It stains clothing more easily than grass.

It is not durable enough for playing fields or high traffic areas, unless mixed with grass.

It is a short-lived perennial and may require reseeding every 2-3 years to maintain an even stand in pure clover lawns. In mixed grass-clover lawns, clover will reseed itself adequately to maintain a consistent presence.

White clover isn’t really shade-resistant; in fact, it will not grow well in shade: it will sprout there, but it won’t thrive. (lawn grasses won’t grow well in shade either.)

My Choice- Micro Clover

The plants I have chosen to grow this year are a different variety to the regular invasive type. They are called Micro Clover. There are a few types around but this one seems the best and is called ‘Pipolina’ and are not unlike Shamrocks (Trifolium dubium)

Micro-clover has been around for a decade or so in Europe and has proved to be very reliable in amenity areas and also in lawn alternatives and on the edge of paths. Unlike the larger variety these plants don’t colonize whole areas. 

It’s really just an extra-small form of white clover (Trifolium repens) It can be used to create mixed or pure clover lawns that are shorter than Dutch white clover (the lawn industry standard) and that also require less mowing. If you have young children then the micro clover doesn’t flower much (or at all if you mow 4 times a year) which will keep the bees away.

A micro-clover lawn.

The plants only reach 6 inches (15 cm) high even if you never mow it. And if you mow occasionally, it will top out at 4 inches (10 cm). Its leaves are twice as small as those of white clover, three times smaller if you mow (regrowth gives even smaller leaves). 

Although micro-clover was designed for mixed lawns, it has been tested as a stand-alone groundcover and does fine when used that way. 

Top Tip for sowing the seed

Lawn specialists recommend using both clover and grass seed to establish the healthiest lawn possible. However, don’t spread these different types of seeds together. Since clover seed is so small and dense, and usually clumps together at the bottom of the spreader or seed bag, spreading with grass seed usually results in uneven coverage. Instead, determine your desired ratio of clover to grass and spread separately.