Clover can be good for the soil, but it’s not attractive for lawns.
When you’ve worked hard to create an even, attractive lawn, you certainly don’t want any interlopers of any kind. Seeing clover poking its leaves through the grass and messing up the effect you’ve worked to ensure is an aggravation.
Fortunately, there are ways to get rid of it without harming your prized grass. Like any unwanted plant, the sooner you eradicate clover intruders from your lawn, the less work you’ll have.
Ways to Remove Clover
Pull it out
If the clover is just in the form of a few smaller patches, you can pull it out. Use a spade to loosen the soil around the patch to ensure that you get all the roots when you pull. If root parts remain in the ground, they can resprout.
Vinegar
A vinegar mixture can kill the clover. This concoction is a suitable method for people with many little patches. Mix a cup of white vinegar with water in a spray bottle. Add a drop of liquid dish detergent to help the mixture stick to the clover and shake it up. Spray the clover patches, but take care not to get the spray on nearby grass. You’ll need to do this daily for perhaps a couple of weeks. Once the clover is dead, wait a couple more weeks before you reseed the patches.
Organic herbicide
Organic herbicides on the market will get rid of your clover problem without harming pets or children. Of course, it acts on other weeds as well.
Nitrogen
Clover prefers to grow in soil with low nitrogen levels. Nitrogen fertilizer can kill it. You can use a fast-release fertilizer or organic materials such as bone or blood meal, cow manure, or earthworm waste. Be aware that organic fertilizers will take longer to kill the clover, so be patient.
Smothering
Smothering is a good method for large patches.
Cover the patches with plastic and weigh them down with rocks or bricks. This process helps to (as the name implies) smother the clover and the heat buildup under the plastic will do damage as well. It may take a few weeks to work, so be patient.
Post Clover Care
After you’ve gotten rid of your clover, it’s a good idea to try to find out why the clover chose your lawn to begin with.
The causes can be anything from low nitrogen levels in the soil to the wrong soil pH, to compacted soil and other causes.
A good way to find out what attracted the clover and keep it from coming back is to contact a quality lawn and landscaping service. Of course, they can also get rid of the clover problem as well and are an especially good choice if the clover just seems to be sprouting up in many places. They can also suggest ways to prevent this and other problems in your lawn and how to keep your grass growing well and green. A quality service can be a valuable resource for any lawn owner.