Clover Grass: Love It or Treat It?
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Clover grass tin be seen as a nuisance or a lawn cover alternative to traditional turf grass. Hither'south what to know about clover grass.
Clover was a popular lawn encompass pick until the tides turned in favor of traditional turf grass in the 1950s. However, clover grass has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to its many advantages over traditional grass. Here's what to know about clover grass.
What Is Clover Grass?
Clover is a flowering plant with three pocket-sized leaves. (Lucky four-foliage clover also exists, simply it'south much less common than the 3-leaf version.) There are more than 300 different types of clover.
Clover is often viewed every bit a weed, but information technology's actually part of the legume family, along with beans, peas and peanuts. Today, more than and more people are purposefully cultivating clover grass lawns that are all clover or a mix of clover and traditional turf grass.
Pros of Clover Grass
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Requires petty watering;
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Drought-tolerant;
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Requires lilliputian to no mowing, since it just grows two to eight inches alpine;
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Doesn't require fertilizer since information technology creates its own nitrogen;
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Improves the health of soil thanks to its natural fertilizing abilities;
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Doesn't crave herbicides since its dense root construction leaves little room for weeds to abound;
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Tin abound well in fifty-fifty poor-quality soil;
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Takes root and establishes itself quickly;
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Feels soft and cool underfoot;
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Is cheap to institute, with clover seeds costing about $4 per four,000 sq. ft.;
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Resists turning brown from pet urine;
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Resists blight and mildew damage;
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Attracts bees and other benign insects to your yard. (If bees aren't your thing you tin opt to grow micro clover that doesn't attract bees or mow the clover when it blooms.)
Cons of Clover Grass
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As a short-lived perennial, may demand reseeding every two or three years (especially if your lawn is but composed of clover);
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More than likely to stain clothing than grass;
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Doesn't hold upwards under foot traffic also as traditional grass;
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May hurt your home'south resale value since many buyers still favor traditional grass.
How to Build a Clover Lawn
First, choose a variety of clover. Popular choices include low-growing and hardy white clover and pollinator-friendly strawberry clover. You may desire to bank check out the new minor-leaf microclover, as well, which blends nicely with lawn grasses.
Once y'all accept your seeds, articulate out your lawn so the clover has room to establish itself. Begin by mowing your backyard on the lowest setting earlier using a thatch rake or dethatching machine to thin out the backyard.
The next pace is to spread the clover seed. You can do this by hand if you're seeding a small area. For larger areas, utilise a broadcast spreader similar the Agri-Fab Push Broadcast Spreader.
Your newly seeded backyard will need plenty of water over the next two weeks, so water daily if it doesn't rain. Yous can await to see the first sprouts pop upwardly in virtually one week.
How to Get Rid of Clover
If you see clover as more than of a nuisance than something to be cultivated, at that place are several steps you tin take to rid it from your lawn.
You lot can pull it out by the roots by hand if there are just a few. For more extensive spread, use a combined herbicide and fertilizer such equally Scotts Turf Architect Triple Activity. Besides killing the clover, information technology volition help the lawn grow in thick and strong enough to crowd out any future clover growth.
Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/clover-grass-love-it-or-treat-it/
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