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.
