Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: My clover lawn
I recently posted a picture of my clover-filled lawn with the hashtag #sorrynotsorry. What amazed me is the reaction! People loved it!
Granted, they’re not my neighbors but people understand that having pollinator friendly landscapes is a benefit to all of us. There’s also trying to be respectful to those you live around. That means my clover-filled lawn is kept mowed at a certain height. I, or my husband, mow the lawn to about 3 inches during the summer. This allows for the clover to flower bringing in the bees and yet it is kept low to look neat.
One question I was asked is if the flowers come back after mowing. The answer is yes! Over and over! I am not one to use chemicals if I really don’t have to, my exception this year has been my ANT issue that I told you about last week. But I love NOT using them. Do I have a perfect green grass lawn, nope. #sorrynotsorry.
The other thing I have is dandelions. I admit I don’t like the way they look after they’ve flowered but to be honest, I DO like the yellow flowers!
Someone also asked me if i had planted a certain type of clover. No, I didn’t plant it at all. It’s naturally, repeat, NATURALLY, in my lawn.
There’s white and a few areas of pink clover too. Intrigued by that question, I did a little research. Dutch White Clover (Trifolium repens) because it is relatively low growing, tolerates close mowing, and out competes other foreign weeds.
Get this, Clover, like all legumes, takes nitrogen from the air and through a chemical reaction, deposits it in the ground as an absorbable fertilizer. In lawns, it provides a constant trickle of of fertilizer to itself and surrounding grasses. Clover is drought tolerant too!