3 leaf, 4 leaf, whatever

March 17, 2024 5:01 PM

Do you have a clover lawn? If so, what can you tell me?

I will be redoing the yard this year am looking at alternatives to grass.
Semi-arid climate
Dog
Not allergic to bees, but also don't enjoy being stung.

posted by falsedmitri to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Clover stains like nobody’s business.
posted by jimfl at 5:27 PM on March 17 [1 favorite]

Clover definitely attracts bees, which makes going barefoot fraught. Of course every other short flower has the same issue, but they do love clover.
posted by Wilbefort at 5:44 PM on March 17

My lawn is cloverfull right now. The best way I can describe it is clumpy. There are lots of bare spots too. I don't care but some HOAs might.

I do like the sorrel which masquerades as clover but puts out these adorable pink flowers that "go to sleep" (fold up) every night.
posted by basalganglia at 5:57 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]

My lawn area is a mix of clover, ground ivy, violets, mock strawberry, some sedges, plantain, dandelion, and some grasses.

It's great: I never water or fertilize, it's easy to mow rarely even with my push-reel mower, it looks great, and it provides some resources for our struggling wildlife populations.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:21 PM on March 17 [11 favorites]

I have lots of clover in what started out as a lawn full of only grass. The clover smells wonderful (and fixes nitrogen, so I'm told) but it doesn't share.

It quickly invades all flower gardens that border the lawn and threatens to strangle anything small, like the berry bushes I am trying to grow. Trimming it back is futile. I have to rip it up by the roots and underground runners, a tedious process that has to be frequently repeated.

Clover is wonderful, but I tire of it quickly.
posted by wjm at 10:42 PM on March 17

Clover is nitrogen fixing which means it makes a lawn it is planted on less in need of fertilizer. White clover is more drought resistant than grass - remaining green when grass does brown. It more resistant than grass to trampling and being peed on by dogs. If you let it grow, rather than moving it, it will produce flowers that help bee populations a great deal -and it will not grow as high as grass - meaning that a "no mow" policy for all/part of the year might be easier to implement. Finally - you may indeed have 4 leafed clovers - for the celebration of which you will need this mandatory addictive song.. It is nice to mix red and white varieties. Yay for clover!
posted by rongorongo at 1:50 AM on March 18 [4 favorites]

You can eat clover blossoms (watch out for bees).
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:34 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

I have a back yard where I couldn't get grass to grow (new construction, bad dirt) but birdsfoot trefoil, a low viney plant with yellow flowers, grows wild here and I added white clover which is also very happy.

Lawnmowing gets reduced by a huge factor -- neither of these plants grow very tall, I usually end up mowing only for the place grass does grow in the front, and for dandelions.

Clover stays pretty green even when it's dry; grass turns brown pretty quick. Grass is pretty thirsty anyway, clover is more resilient.

I know people have warned about attracting bees -- but bees (and other nectar-supported critters) need help these days, so there being an expanse of flowers around that aren't getting Roundupped or mowed is good for all the bees. I love sitting in the yard watching them go about their business.

Since these are non-grasses, most non-grass weedkiller will, of course, kill your non-grass lawn; if you have neighbors who pay for a lawn service to come spray their yard monthly or whatever, they may be overzealous and cause problems on your borders.

It does look "weedy", so if you have a neighbor or HOA that expects a thick grass lawn you'll get pushback for having a lawn like this.

One thing about the nitrogen fixing: clover uses its stored nitrogen to flower, and if you mow and bag it and take it to the lawn clipping dumpster, you're undoing some of its nitrogen fixing -- if you mow the clover, don't bag it, let it return to the soil where it lies.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:15 AM on March 18

Depending on your exact climate a perennial peanut might work. In Tallahassee many of the medians where there used to be grass, they now have the perennial peanuts. And for part of the year, they have lovely little yellow flowers.
posted by gregr at 9:48 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

SaltySalticid could be describing my yard- except I have a different little flower doing its thing. And some sort of wild carrot thing. It’s been a decade with dogs and kids and a trampoline and all that and there has been a single bee sting.

The little bumbler was resting/under a jacket and got trapped, so only tangentially related to the yard flowers. Otherwise everyone love seeing which plants the rabbits eat after they wipe out the wild carrot.
posted by zenon at 9:53 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

I have red and white clover in what lawn is left. Red clover is kind of bushy, white clover is low to the ground. Pollinators enjoy both. I still have to mow once or twice a year because there are tree and shrub seeds that start up. Grass seems to have a deeper and thicker root structure. Grass is bred to be able to withstand traffic. Clover and other lawn plants tolerate some traffic, not a lot. I have a bunch of vinca, nice groundcover in the shady area. I have a nice patch of thyme and will plant other varieties because it smells so good. I've used hosta, daylilies, and other plants to displace lawn. I'm in Maine, zone 5b. In the US, the Cooperative Extension Service is very helpful.
posted by theora55 at 9:08 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]