Other Names: White clover

Botanical Identification: Trifolium repens

Type: Weed, a member of the legume family, closely related to alfalfa and sweet clover

Appearance: There are many types of clovers, and all have small, round, white or pink flowers. They also have three round leaflets at the end of a long stalk.

Risk: Clover prefers under-nourished lawns.

Timing: Clover bloom time varies among species, but it tends to be in the spring or summer.

Concerns: Bees like clovers, so you might have more buzzing, stinging visitors if your lawn is covered

How to Control Clover

Prevention

Keeping your lawn healthy is the best way to prevent clover. This weed produces its own nitrogen, so it thrives in under-nourished areas. You can keep your grass in tip-top, clover-fighting shape by:

• Watering Well: Your grass needs adequate water to thrive. It prefers long soakings about two to three times weekly instead of daily watering, depending on the rain levels from the week.
• Reseeding patchy spots: Grass roots go deep into the ground and take up a lot of space, taking away the valuable real estate weeds need to thrive.
• Aerating Your Soil: Soil compaction keeps air and water from reaching the deeper levels of soil where grass roots grow, so only plants that grow nearer to the surface, like weeds, can thrive.
• Checking Your Lawn’s pH Level: If your soil’s pH level isn’t neutral (about 7.0), your grass doesn’t have the right environment to thrive, but weeds might. To balance the pH level, your soil may also need applications of lime.

Treatment

Clovers are low-growing and have weak root systems, so leaving your grass length a little higher prevents the weed from getting necessary sunshine.

If you notice clovers before it forms flowers, you can pull the weed by hand. The sooner the better. But if there are too many clovers to pull manually, you can use a weed killer. Make sure to choose one that won’t harm your grass and follow the directions provided.

Need Help with Clover?

Call Shades of Green Lawn & Landscape today at 765-771-9998 and let's talk about how we can help you with Clover and other Indiana lawn weeds.

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