When to plant clover White clover for the lawn - how to plant to get a green carpet? Main active components of red clover

Clover is a versatile plant that is used as a ground cover or forage crop, it is an excellent honey plant, as well as green manure for soil enrichment.

In addition, the agricultural technology for growing a crop is extremely simple, you just need to decide: it is best to sow clover in autumn or spring in order to use its multifunctionality to the fullest.

Possibilities of clover and its areas of application

Clover can be classified as one of the best honey plants due to its rich chemical composition flower heads the product has excellent medicinal properties... His honey has delicate aroma and delicate taste, during crystallization a very dense white mass is formed, long time preserving healing properties... As a source for collecting pollen, clover is best sown in early spring, so that the bees have time to collect nectar this season.

To use clover as an alternative to a low-maintenance lawn crop that grows in one place for up to 8-10 years, the seeds are also best sown in the spring:

As a lawn culture, clover is absolutely unpretentious, it is enough to periodically water and cut it so that pests (for example) do not breed in a humid environment. For the first few years, sowing and fertilizing the lawn is not required. A significant drawback of such a lawn is that the clover is not resistant to trampling; to preserve the aesthetic appearance of the lawn, paths must be laid along it.

When to sow clover as green manure?

For these purposes, you can sow clover in autumn or spring, the sowing time will depend on the selected variety: red-flowering clover at the beginning of the growing season is more suitable low temperatures, it is sown in early spring.

Fixing a large number of nitrogen in the soil, loosening and structuring the soil, attracting many microorganisms, drowning the growth of perennial weeds, clover is an excellent green manure. An important advantage of clover over other green manure is that it converts phosphorus compounds into a form that is easily accessible to plants.

It is successfully sown under fruit trees or on other shaded plots as shade-tolerant plant, which does not require frequent digging (when digging, the growth of green manure is suppressed). Creeping roots, lying to a depth of 50 cm, perfectly strengthen the soil from leaching, therefore clover is often sown on the slopes of the plots.

Knowing some of the characteristics of the plant, it is easier to decide when to sow clover in autumn or spring - with the greatest benefits for the soil. In order for the return from it to be more complete, clover needs to grow for at least 4 months, so spring planting is not used in areas for early vegetables. In late spring, clover is sown in those beds that will not be planted until the end of summer. Plots of land will at the same time be protected from erosion and saturate the nutrient soil layer with nitrogen, if the cut shoots are left directly on the beds for rotting 2-3 weeks before planting the main crop.

If it is necessary to fertilize the site for early crops, clover is planted early autumn and let him go unmown into the winter.

Having decided to use clover as a green manure in his area, the gardener must take into account that this is - perennial, his most high yield and the highest nitrogen recovery is observed in the second year of growth. The period for mowing is before flowering, then mineral substances are maximally concentrated in the green mass of plants.

How to sow clover correctly?

There is no need for special preparation of the site, the clover can adapt to any soils, the main work carried out before planting:

After a few days, the first shoots will begin to appear, they need to be watered often, but in moderation, the young clover does not tolerate stagnant water.

The highest-yielding clover, which gives several yields of succulent green mass - which has a red flower, a clover with a white flower, the green mass yield is minimal, but it is not so aggressive root system, its growth is easier to control.

An example of spring planting of clover on VIDEO

The gardener tells how and when to plant clover correctly in spring:

Clover, popularly called "gash", is a perennial plant with trifoliate green and white leaves. On the European territory of Russia, 24 species of clover are found in natural nature.

In culture, two types are widespread: red (Trifolium hybridum L) and white (Trifolium repens). The first is used as a valuable fodder plant and as a siderat, the second (creeping white clover) - mainly in horticulture to create flowering lawns.

White clover for the lawn is a low (up to 20 cm) plant with a creeping root and a highly branching stem. The leaves consist of three green petals with white stripes. Up to 100 tube-shaped flowers are collected in one round capitate clover inflorescence.

The root system of the clover is well developed: its roots can penetrate to a depth of 230 cm. The root collar and regeneration buds of the plant sink into the ground over the years - this protects it from freezing and eating by animals. With the appearance of the first true leaf, nodules form on the roots - nitrogen-fixing bacteria begin to work. They exist only on the roots of the legume family. This is a mutually beneficial symbiosis: the plant produces substances necessary for the life of bacteria, and bacteria assimilate nitrogen from the air, converting it into an accessible form.

Planting a clover lawn

Preparing the soil for laying a clover lawn is carried out in the same way as for a conventional grass mixture: it is necessary to dig up the area, remove the roots of perennial weeds from the soil, roll the surface with a roller to compact the soil layer and level the surface (read our special article).

White clover lawn does not tolerate well increased acidity soil, in this case it is necessary to deoxidize it - add lime or dolomite flour.

If the site is heavily infested with dandelions and other weeds, then before digging it is advisable to treat it with continuous herbicide preparations, for example, Roundup.

Clover seeds are very small, so you shouldn't sow it in windy weather. The seeding rate is 2.5-3 kg per one hundred square meters. Sowing of clover is carried out randomly with an overlap, but not thickening: clover grows quickly, it needs free space for this.

The main condition for friendly seedlings is good pre-sowing watering of the soil and shallow seeding. On heavy soils, seeds are sealed no deeper than 0.5 cm, on light soils - no deeper than 1 cm. You can not close the seeds with a rake, but lightly sprinkle them with a thin layer of sand. For even sowing, the seeds are mixed with sand or raw sawdust.

In order not to spread the seeds on your feet throughout the site, plastic bags are put on the shoes. If after sowing there is no rain for a long time, the plantings must be watered with a fine spray.

At an air temperature of 18-20 degrees, seedlings appear in 5-6 days, at a temperature of 14-16 degrees - after 6-8 days.

When to sow clover?

Spring sowing.

There are two ways to sow clover in the spring, you can use any of them.

On the prepared surface, clover can be sown "on a shard" - in the early spring morning, when the snow has not completely melted and freezes at night with a thin crust. The seeds are sown without embedding directly on the crust of ice. When the temperature rises during the day, the crust melts and, together with the water, small seeds are drawn into the soil.
In April when average temperature air will be established in the region of + 10 + 13 degrees, you can sow clover in the usual way with shallow planting of seeds in the ground. In this case, it is necessary to monitor the soil moisture.

Autumn sowing.

Sowing is carried out in late August - early September, so that the clover has time to sprout and root well before frost.

Winter sowing.

In this case, it is necessary to guess exactly with the sowing time, so that the seeds do not have time to sprout, but overwinter in the ground. Seedlings appear in early spring. Seed rate at winter sowing doubled.

Care

Seedling care. In the first year, the clover lawn is not very decorative and does not bloom. Its main enemies are weeds. If the area was not treated with Roundup before laying the lawn, then regular manual weeding or spot treatment of weeds with herbicides is necessary (applied to the plant using paint brush). On germination, clover can be treated with Lemur, Bazagran, Agritox, Agristar preparations.

When planting a lawn in spring in the first year, it is not required, but regular watering is necessary.

In the second year, the clover grows well, filling almost all the voids, its root system is strengthened, the plant begins to bloom. When you reach a height of 10 cm, it is recommended to cut for the first time.

After cutting, sticking out stems of the plant often remain, but after a couple of days new young leaves appear and the clover lawn takes on a beautiful appearance again.

The mowing frequency depends on the purpose of the lawn. If the lawn is functional, then it should be mowed more often, since the flowering heads attract bumblebees and bees, the risk of being stung increases. If the clover plantings perform exclusively decorative functions, then they can be cut less often, as the inflorescences begin to dry out and turn brown. After shearing, the plants grow back quickly and begin to bloom again.

The lawn looks neater when mowed with a lawn mower. But if the clover has grown too much, its juicy stems can jam the knives, especially low-power ones suffer from this electric lawn mowers... The optimum height for a clover lawn is 6 cm.

Clover lawn care after winter. In the spring, you can find a partial loss of plants. Most often this happens if the variety is not sufficiently winter-hardy for the growing region.

Small bald patches can not be repaired, since the creeping clover grows very quickly. If there are a lot of voids, then it is necessary to sow seeds in these places. Sow superficially, sprinkling with a small layer of earth and sand.

Pros and cons of clover lawn

Pros of white clover:

undemanding to care
resistance to disease and trampling
cut grass can be used for other plants or go to feed animals and poultry

Minuses:

after a haircut it loses its decorative effect for several days
attracts dangerous insects (bees, bumblebees)
self-seeding spreads throughout the site
after rain, due to the large surface of the leaves, it dries for a long time and can be slippery (not suitable for active games)

The use of white clover in landscape design

Lawn creation
Creating flowering lawns on a lawn from a regular grass mixture
Decorating near-trunk circles trees
Tinning of garden rows and paths between beds
Create a flowering border along the paths, sowing between the paving slabs

For reference: types of clover

The following varieties of white creeping clover are included in the State Register of the Russian Federation:

Variety name	Characteristics and purpose
Barbian	Resistant, fast sprouting, suitable for functional lawns and pasture sowing. Possesses high winter hardiness.
Klondike
Liflex	Suitable for creating lawns. Is different early flowering.
Meadow	It has high frequency plants with white marks. Possesses good winter hardiness, high shoot-forming ability. Relatively resistant to slug infestation. Suitable for creating dense grass stand with repeated mowing and pastures.
Merlin	For the creation of hayfields and pastures.
Milkanova	Differs in fast regrowth after mowing.
Cute	For the creation of hayfields and pastures.
Nanook	Most of the plants are white-marked. Highly decorative variety, suitable for creating lawns. Resistant to mowing and disease.
Sail	For the creation of hayfields and pastures.
Pipolina	Differs in very small size of leaves and petioles (microclover for lawn).
Pirouette	It is a medium-flowering variety with a large number of plants with white markers and very small leaves and petioles (lawn microclover).
Rivendel	Suitable for creating lawns. Differs in early flowering. Has a large number of plants with white marks.
Sylvester	The variety is medium-flowering, winter-hardy. Differs in good and fast shoots. Forms a stable herbage, suitable for creating functional lawns.
Tasman	Late flowering, with a high peduncle. Resistant to trampling, has increased winter hardiness and good shoots.
Alice	Late flowering, with a high peduncle. Resistant to diseases, winter-hardy, grows back well after mowing.

Conclusion

We talked about how to grow a clover lawn, how planting and maintenance is done, the pros and cons of decorative clover, and how to deal with clover lawn problems. Read other articles on how to arrange a lawn from

15.09.2017 14 012

White clover for the lawn - how to plant to get a green carpet?

If you don’t know how to plant white clover for your lawn, it’s better to understand and study the technology first. Sowing dates, both in autumn and in spring, have their pros and cons, also keep in mind that the seeding rate should vary within the acceptable value. Watering and care will not require unnecessary efforts from you, the main thing is to sow correctly ...

Content:

How to properly plant white clover for your lawn

If you are going to plant white clover as a lawn in a summer cottage or personal plot, you first have to buy planting material, namely the seeds. Planting seeds can be purchased at specialist gardening stores. To ambush one square meter, on average, it takes about three hundred seeds. If you have planted clover before and decide to use self-collected seeds, then harvest them from plants over two years old.

It is important to choose the right place for planting clovers on summer cottage... The best solution would be a place well lit by the sun or partial shade. Planting in areas with a slope is permissible - a powerful root system is able to hold the soil. The trefoil grows especially actively in the soil where cereals were previously grown.

There is a technology for sowing white clover. To sow white clover for a lawn, you first need to loosen the sod, get rid of weeds, remove the top layer of soil a few centimeters and level the planting site. The soil should be moist - in dry, seeds do not germinate for a long time and may die.

It is recommended to soak the seeds for one hour before planting in order to ensure quick shoots. Mixing seeds with sand is acceptable to control the frequency of coverage. Planting rate - 20 grams / square meter. A planter is recommended for sowing, but you can also sow clover manually.

white clover lawn - pictured

When the seeds are sown, they need to be covered with a small layer of turf so as not to damage future delicate seedlings. Watering is best done with a spray bottle, as a strong stream of water can wash out the seeds. Drip irrigation will the best way irrigation of the lawn, so you should provide all the subtleties at once. The best time to water is late evening or early morning.

On average, white clover seeds germinate in ten days, but in some cases, the first shoots may appear after five to six days. The plant is unpretentious and tenacious, weeding and feeding are practically not needed. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers can be added to the soil two weeks before planting. The only maintenance requirement is regular watering. Mowing is done twice a month. After completing all these simple tricks, you will soon have a thick and durable lawn, pleasing to the eye!

When to sow white clover for your lawn

If you don't know when to sow white clover, remember that best time planting can be called late spring-early summer. Sowing white clover at this time of year will provide explosive growth shamrock. But, if you missed this moment, do not despair - the plant can be planted until the third decade of August.

Summertime is the best time sowing white clover - the warmer the ground, the faster the sprouts will sprout. The main thing is to have time to do this before the onset of frost - otherwise the clover, which has not yet had time to harden, will die.

It is also possible to sow clover in autumn, when the air temperature is not lower than 10 degrees Celsius. It is advisable to sow before the rains, or you will have to water the plant abundantly yourself.

Planting white clover outdoors

It is advisable to plant white clover separately from other plants. The shamrock is the dominant plant, capable of outliving its fellows with a weaker root system; it will spread throughout the entire territory if measures are not taken to limit its distribution.

White clover can be planted not only as a lawn, but also under trees in the garden - it releases nitrogen fertilizers into the soil, increasing its fertility. White clover goes well with bright colors- peonies, poppies, lupines. For creating original composition potted flowers can also be used. When forming a flower bed, clover is best planted in separate isolated groups. Do not forget to separate the faded flower heads so that they do not spoil appearance lawn.

Unfortunately, the plant begins to bloom only in the second year of its life, but it blooms all summer. To create a pleasant meadow lawn in your summer cottage, it is recommended to apply the following mixture of herbs, taking a quarter of each species - red fescue, white clover, meadow bluegrass, common bent. This mixture is ideal for dry and marginal soils.

Benefits of planting clover outdoors

Due to the pronounced decorative qualities, it creates an attractive and neat look for the lawn. Handsome. Suitable for planting under trees and bushes. Slow growth eliminates frequent haircuts
Unpretentious, tenacious, winter-hardy. Doesn't need special care, fertilization. Self-regenerating. Resistant to trampling
A powerful root system can suppress weed growth for several years. It will also be a great solution for growing on slopes - the rhizome will hold the soil
It has soil-improving qualities - it saturates the soil with nitrogen fertilizers. In cases where the clover is part of the mixture, the lawn does not need additional fertilization.
If you keep an apiary, then clover, being a honey plant, will become irreplaceable assistant For you
Can become food for domestic animals - chickens, goats, cows, even hamsters and guinea pigs. But, if you grow it only for this purpose, it is recommended to look at other varieties - for example, red or pink clover.
Cheapness. The seeds of this plant are an order of magnitude cheaper than other plant crops, and if you collect them by hand, you will not need to spend at all!

Now, it's not a problem to create a beautiful green carpet on the site! White clover is perfect for a lawn, and you already know when to plant it and how to do it right!

Clover is an excellent honey plant. It is sown because it forms a dense, beautiful ground cover. It is a unique forage crop for animals. It is considered a green manure that enriches the soil of a vegetable garden or garden, organic matter and nitrogen. The agricultural technology of growing clover is not very complicated. It is just enough to water and loosen the soil in time. To plant clover, you must have: a shovel, soil, fertilizers, seeds, water and a watering can.

But what's the real truth about some of these new deer and turkey clovers? The rest of this story gets serious and cracks through the excesses, truths, and myths around white clover varieties and their value to deer and deer hunters.

Except for those farmers and hunters who often transplant their fields and food plots. We still don't know if he will ever die out. Try this with bras or red clovers or Austrian winter polka dots. For a long time, there has been a permanent, long-lived clover that is highly competitive in a mixed rack with perennial grasses or other aggressive plants, including weeds. To increase the resistance to grazing of white clover, he collected "native ecotypes" that survived many years of hot, dry summers, heavy grazing and cattle trampling in several places in Georgia.

Instructions

Initially, you need to prepare the ground. Clover is an unpretentious plant, but it grows better in areas where there is a lot of sunlight, and then it gives a beautiful "carpet" of flowers and greenery on loose soil filled with organic matter. better in autumn when digging up the earth in a vegetable garden or garden.Along with the manure, you need to add seven grams of double superphosphate and five grams of potash fertilizers.

Clover care

For example, overgrowing oneself after an extreme summer drought will seriously injure the topsides and stolons. This cool season of perennial legumes is adapted from eastern Texas across the south to the Atlantic coast, north along a line from Macon, Georgia, to Dallas, Texas and all the way to Canada. Below this line, it will perform well on correct soils: sandy loam and heavy soils, but not deep clean sands. It also tolerates up to 70 percent shade and wet soils, including intermittent flooding.

It is adapted to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions as well as the Upper Midwest and New England. Instead of a soil test, consult your local agronomist or crop agency for general advice on lime and fertilization. Lime can be applied at planting, but it is better to apply and turn on six months before planting.

In early spring, before the green shoots of clover grow, you need to add five grams of urea. It is recommended to scatter the granules on the soil surface.

For sowing clover, it is advisable to choose a warm autumn day. It is desirable that the atmospheric temperature no longer rise more than 15 degrees Celsius, otherwise the clover will grow and die from the cold. Since clover seeds are very small, they need to be mixed with fine river sand (1: 3) and sown in grooves, at a distance of ten centimeters from each other. Also, you can sow this plant randomly, but in this case, more seeds will be needed. It is advisable to feed the soil with a liquid manure mixture. This should be done in early spring, when the temperature will not drop below seven degrees Celsius and new shoots will start to grow. To prepare fertilizer, you need to dilute 15 kilograms of mullein in 30 liters of water, cover plastic wrap, tie, so that oxygen does not pass, leave for 6-7 days. After a while, you need to remove the film, mix the fertilizer, dilute with water (1: 5) and feed the young shoots.

Where malfunctions have occurred in Duran, they can almost always be attributed to seeds covered too deep or accompanying grasses planted too hard. For all spring plantings, always substitute oats for wheat because spring planted wheat will try to load and move to early low growth planting. We do not have Durana drilled into herbs killed by glyphosate with great success in both spring and fall. Each mow stimulates new growth and allows sunlight to reach the stolons, which encourages both top growth and lateral growth as the stolon density thickens.

The plot should be sprayed with Intavir solution or treated with another insect repellent. This should be done when the plant enters the budding period. In order for pinkish-red flowers and greens to please the eye, as long as possible, you need to feed the clover wood ash... It contains magnesium, potassium and many other useful substances that help improve vegetation, and also protect clover flowers from various diseases.

Odin Stevens graduate, under the guidance of a doctor. The results show that the forage production and perennial crops of Durana and Regal were the same throughout the study, with the exception of the second year in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont, when Durana surpassed Regal in production.

Most others are energetic and prosperous and exceeding expectations. Some stands are in their third or fourth year despite a severe drought. Bill Sell, who hired Joe Bouton many years ago and was a close associate of Karl Ovand for decades, decided to test Duran in his Jackson County, Georgia, to see for himself. His soil pH was. He sprayed a herbicide to kill everything and soon brought back a clean, energetic clover wall, again without fertilization!

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A neat and well-groomed lawn on a personal plot is the dream of many. But in order for the lawn to become a source of pride for its owner, it takes a lot of time, effort and finances, which, unfortunately, not everyone has. Untimely and poor grass care will negate all previously expended efforts, and lead to the fact that the lawn will lose its decorative and attractiveness.

Basically, his development of deer rock rewrote South Carolina's record for his part of the state. Durana is the cornerstone of his nutritional program. It is resistant to overgrazing, more resilient, more drought tolerant, more acid resistant, more aggressive with competitive grasses and weeds, and has more stolon density and growth than any other clover.

Planting clover instead of grass has many benefits. Firstly, it is very low maintenance, so you can spend more time doing other things, like landscaping or gardening, which you enjoy better. Clover is also natural and will enrich your soil by taking nitrogen from the air and adding it to the soil, which is good if you ever decide to go to a traditional lawn.

Clover lawn is ideal option for those who cannot devote part of their time daily to mowing the lawn. In this article, we will tell you in detail about clover, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the features of caring for it.

What is clover

It is a perennial herbaceous crop of the legume family with emerald green leaves and small globular inflorescences. Clover has the ability to grow over the territory in the form of a solid dense carpet, no more than 10 cm high.It is rather quickly strengthened by roots in the soil, filling everything free areas Location on.

You will also have no problem with clover weeds, as it will drown out all other plants in the vicinity. This is also drought tolerance; because its roots are longer, they can reach water that lurks at deeper levels in the ground. Clover flowers will attract bees that are good for the environment and for your entire garden, and it is a pleasure to walk on the clover. Not to mention, you don't need any fertilizers or pesticides when working with clover.

Step 1 - Buying the Right Seed

We will assume that you start the planting process with an area of lawn that was stripped away and you are left with empty soil. You need to wait until spring comes to plant your clover, so when you're ready, go to a pet food store and buy five dollars worth of Dutch sevens clover seeds. This amount will be sufficient for a medium sized lawn.

In our latitudes, there are about 70 different types of trefoil, the most common of which are the following varieties:

creeping;
gray-blue;
yellow;
hadeni;
brandegs.

Sometimes in landscape design use a specially bred variety of clover called "Barbanian" - a hybrid plant with white and pink flowers... If you cannot find its seeds on sale, you can plant a regular creeping shamrock.

Then crack the soil as flat as possible. It doesn't have to be perfect, just make sure that most of the larger hills have been removed. Mix clover seeds with any soil, using a wheelbarrow as a "bowl". The soil you use can be regular garden soil or any kind of mix the seeds until you have about four per square inch. Then spread the mixture evenly over the entire lawn.

Clover grows best in fertile, moist soil with a pH around it. Straw can also be used to cover seeds. Thin layer will help keep them from washing and keep them moist for good germination. Be careful not to pack it too tightly, or the clover seedlings will not be able to break through. Water the soil lightly, being careful not to wash away the seeds. Try not to walk on your newly planted lawn, at least, for a week, and remember to keep the soil moist at all times.

Benefits of clover as a lawn grass

White clover for the lawn is considered the most successful among other types, since after cutting it, no bare stems remain on the lawn. The area covered with a fluffy green shamrock carpet looks pretty beautiful, and the plant itself has a number of advantages:

it is unpretentious, therefore it feels great in any changeable climate;
the type of soil for clover does not really matter, it does not require frequent watering and fertilizing;
the land on which this crop grows is actively supplied with nitrogen;
shamrock is a honey plant, if cut infrequently, it attracts bees and other pollinating insects;
clover for the lawn is also good because it grows rather quickly, turning into a dense carpet and covering all the bald spots on the site;
it is resistant to trampling, tends to recover in a short time;
the period of its flowering lasts quite a long time - from May to mid-autumn;
with proper care, a clover lawn may not be renewed for 7-8 years.

Within two weeks, you should see clover sprouts all over your lawn. Keep the soil moist with watering at least daily until you see the seeds start to grow and then reduce watering. After your clover has grown, do not drink water more than once a week as, as we mentioned earlier, it is deep rooted and drought tolerant. When you water the water, soak deep roots deeply.

Allow the clover flower and visit the seeds year after year. However, after two or three years, additional seed may be required on the lawn, or a complete transplant may be required. Depending on your area and type of clover, it can grow up to six inches or more before it stops growing. Because clover cuttings can get pretty messy, some just let it grow to its full height and not mow at all.

Disadvantages of a shamrock lawn

the need for constant haircuts and removal of dead inflorescences;
in places where clover grows, soil moisture is always increased, which leads to the reproduction of snails and slugs there;
this herb is prone to being affected by various fungal diseases;
clover can quickly grow outside the lawn and become a weed in adjacent beds, which, moreover, is quite difficult to remove.

Clover will stain clothes and are difficult to get out, so children need to be careful when playing. They should also take care to walk barefoot on the lawn as they might step on the sting of honey bees. In some cases, bee populations can increase dramatically due to your clover, so if this becomes an issue, you may want to reconsider storing your clover lawn.

If you have a specific area that receives heavy foot traffic, it is best to put some stones for walking as the clover is easily trampled and has little effect when walking back. When creating a clover lawn, weeds can be a problem.

Planting clover

To create a beautiful and neat shamrock lawn, we recommend that you adhere to some rules:

Clover can be planted starting in mid-spring, when the air temperature reaches + 13-15 ° C.
There should be approximately 20 g of seeds per 1 m² of lawn area.
Before sowing, the soil should be well dug up, cleaned of weeds and debris, leveled and slightly compacted.
Remember that the shamrock saturates the soil with nitrogen, so don't overdo it with fertilizers. If you add too many of them, overgrowth of weeds is possible.
Lawn clover seeds are best purchased at a gardening store, where they are widely available.
Sowing the grass along and across the lawn will give the green carpet the most even appearance. After planting, the seeds need to be sprinkled with a layer of earth 1 cm thick and the soil should be tamped a little. If sowing occurs during the hot season, enrich the soil with peat, which will retain moisture for a long time.
A variety called "Rivendell" is perfect for a decorative lawn. It does not grow taller than 10 cm, has bright leaves and a large number of inflorescences.
If desired, clover seeds can be combined with other plants such as cereals. In this case, the rest of the crops will require additional feeding, otherwise the trefoil will drown them out.
Clover blooms in the second year after planting, this period lasts from May to July. Then the lawn is mowed, and from August to October, the clover has another stage of flowering.
If this culture is not provided with the necessary care, the shamrock begins to fall out in places, forming bald spots. Through time empty spaces on the lawn are overgrown with weeds and all its decorative effect is lost.
It is better to trim clover with garden trimmer... In this case, it resumes faster and releases a large number of inflorescences.

You can see the white clover lawn in the photo:

Manage them by mowing the lawn until the clover is three inches long, at which point the clover can pick on its own. Be sure to keep an eye out for any four leaf clovers you can choose and enjoy the lush look of your new lawn!

Diagrams, pp. 66-72, for ranking and management. White clovers are the best choice for live mulch systems installed between rows of irrigated vegetables, fruit bushes or trees. They are permanent, widely adapted perennial nitrogen producers with tough stems and a dense, fine root mass that protects the soil from erosion and suppresses weeds. Depending on the type, the plants only grow 6 to 12 inches in height but thrive when mowed or grazed.

Clover Lawn Maintenance

The lawn sown with this plant must be constantly maintained in a neat and beautiful form, for this, take into account some of the subtleties:

The shamrock is unpretentious to the soil, it feels good on dry sandy or clay soil, without requiring frequent and abundant watering.
Clover is sun-loving, it is uncomfortable in the shade, so do not plant tall shrubs and dense grasses nearby.
Too much moisture in the soil and air in the places where the trefoil grows oppresses the plant, slows down its development and impairs flowering.
When sowing clover, it is better to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizers or not apply them at all to the soil. At the time of buying complex fertilizers also make sure that they do not contain components of the nitrogen group, instead of them it is better to use fertilizers based on potassium and phosphorus.
If you decide to make a combined lawn, take into account that the proportion of clover seeds in the composition of the grass mixture should not be more than 6-7%.
Regular haircuts are the key to the beauty of your shamrock lawn. It is believed that it is best to cut the plant at a height of 3-4 cm from ground level.

Once created, they are great for heavy field traffic and thrive in cool, humid conditions and shade. Three types: White clover varieties are grouped into three types by size. The smallest type of growth is best able to withstand heavy traffic and grazing. Intermediate flower sizes are earlier and more abundant than larger ones, are more tolerant and include most economically important varieties... They are generally less durable, but can be two to four times higher than average.

Intermediate types of white clover include many cultivars, most of which were originally grown for feed. They rank high on all proven traits, including plant vigor, leaf area, dry matter yield, number of seed heads, flowering latency, and upright stems to prevent soil contact.

Clover is a versatile plant that is used as a ground cover or forage crop, it is an excellent honey plant, as well as green manure for soil enrichment.

Possibilities of clover and its areas of application

Clover can be classified as one of the best honey plants, due to the rich chemical composition of the flower heads, the product has excellent medicinal properties. Its honey has a delicate aroma and delicate taste; during crystallization, a very dense white mass is formed, which retains its healing properties for a long time. As a source for collecting pollen, clover is best sown in early spring, so that the bees have time to collect nectar this season.

To use clover as an alternative to a low-maintenance lawn crop that grows in one place for up to 8-10 years, the seeds are also best sown in the spring:

As a lawn culture, clover is absolutely unpretentious, it is enough to periodically water and cut it so that pests (slugs, for example) do not breed in a humid environment. For the first few years, sowing and fertilizing the lawn is not required. A significant drawback of such a lawn is that the clover is not resistant to trampling; to preserve the aesthetic appearance of the lawn, paths must be laid along it.

When to sow clover as green manure?

For these purposes, you can sow clover in autumn or spring, the sowing time will depend on the selected variety: low temperatures are more suitable for red-flowering clover at the beginning of the growing season, it is sown in early spring.

By fixing a large amount of nitrogen in the soil, loosening and structuring the soil, attracting many microorganisms, drowning the growth of perennial weeds, clover is an excellent green manure. An important advantage of clover over other green manure is that it converts phosphorus compounds into a form that is easily accessible to plants.

It is successfully sown under fruit trees or on other shaded plots as a shade-tolerant plant that does not require frequent digging (when digging, the growth of green manure is suppressed). Creeping roots, lying to a depth of 50 cm, perfectly strengthen the soil from leaching, therefore clover is often sown on the slopes of the plots.

If it is necessary to fertilize the site for early crops, the clover is planted in early autumn and allowed to leave in the winter unmown.

Having decided to use clover as a green manure in his area, the gardener must take into account that it is a perennial plant, its highest yield and the greatest nitrogen yield is observed in the second year of growth. The period for mowing is before flowering, then mineral substances are maximally concentrated in the green mass of plants.

How to sow clover correctly?

There is no need for special preparation of the site, the clover can adapt to any soils, the main work carried out before planting:

Moistening, leveling the beds and lightly compacting the soil for better contact seed with soil.

Soaking the seeds for 1 hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection, then drying them to a loose state.

Mixing seeds with dry sand or light free-flowing humus in a 1: 1 ratio for more even distribution.

Sowing is done in bulk to a depth of 1-2 cm, the soil is slightly compacted again. On sandstones, the planting depth is increased to 3 cm.

After a few days, the first shoots will begin to appear, they need to be watered often, but in moderation, the young clover does not tolerate stagnant water.

The highest-yielding clover, which gives several yields of succulent green mass - has a red flower, a clover with a white flower has minimal green mass, but it does not have such an aggressive root system, its growth is easier to control.

An example of spring planting of clover on VIDEO

The gardener tells how and when to plant clover correctly in spring:

Clover white creeping planting and care photo

Under natural conditions, white clover feels great without weeding and feeding. At home, caring for the plant is minimal, it is hardy, but in order for its decorative appearance to remain as long as possible, you still need to know something about its preferences.

Before sowing any plant, including clover, you need to choose a place. Better conditions for him - the sun, in extreme cases - partial shade, and if there is such an opportunity, sow it where there were cereals. It grows well on loamy and sandy loam soils, neutral or slightly acidic. He feels bad next to tall and thick grasses, they oppress him.

First, the site must be dug up and leveled so that the lumps of earth are as small as possible. This will kill weeds and fill the ground with the air necessary for plant growth and development.

Seeds are taken at the rate of 320 seeds per 1 square meter of land. Before sowing, they are soaked for an hour. Sowing by hand so that the seeds spread evenly over the ground is difficult, especially for beginners. For even distribution of seeds, it is recommended to mix them with the soil in a separate container (in a wheelbarrow, barrel or large box), after which the mixture is scattered over the entire area of the site evenly. There is no need to sprinkle the seeds with a thick layer of earth, they will not germinate well, one centimeter is enough.

It is necessary to water the future lawn carefully, not with a hose, but with a watering can, with a fine nozzle. Humidity should be moderate, not excessive, otherwise the seeds may rot. It is impossible to stomp where clover is sown. At proper care shoots will appear in two weeks.

In the first year, flowering should not be expected, it will appear only the next year. Especially naughty young clover, what kind of care does he need?

The most important thing is correct watering... It is important here not to overdo it and not dry out the lawn. It is not recommended to sow clover where groundwater is close to the surface. One watering per week is enough, it should be moderate. If there is excess moisture in your area, plant pink clover instead of white. Leaving includes weed control and timely removal of dry faded heads from the lawn.

The plant is a source of nitrogen, so fertilizers need to be treated with care. If cereals grow next to the clover, it can drown them out. So that the plants do not die, in the spring the cereals need to be fed with mineral fertilizers.

Information for beginners:

Although clover is considered a perennial, but its life is not long, a re-planting is needed in the third year. It is important not to be late with it, calculate so that the seeds do not germinate in autumn, and not even in August, otherwise the cold will destroy the unrooted plants.

Pros and cons of white lawn

White clover lawn is a great alternative to classic green. The emerald perennial will quickly fill in unwanted bald spots on the site and accentuate brighter shrubs and trees. He can unobtrusively focus on flowers, especially if they are poppies or lupins.

Adults and children can trample on the lawn, dogs can run and play on it. It will not be spoiled by temperature changes. Oatmeal and mint, for example, need more moisture, and lawn grass does not always survive in the sun, so a "white foam carpet" is the best solution.

To make the white clover look spectacular, it is recommended to cut it as it grows. In this case, the lawn mower should be abandoned; it is better to use a trimmer. Don't worry, it will grow back quickly and bloom even more beautifully, and its green decoration will last until late fall.

The lawn can grow rapidly due to creeping rooting shoots, and this is not always happy. It will not be easy to "evict" a neighbor from nearby beds and neighboring flower beds, in which case he will change his status from decorative decoration site on the weed and need the help of chemicals. Too frequent walks on clover can ruin its aesthetic appearance; weeds can only be fought by hand. As you know, the honey plant always attracts insects, and, hiding in the grass, they can sting if they accidentally stepped on without seeing them. These are, perhaps, all of its significant disadvantages.

Frequent and regular maintenance can be difficult, especially if the site owner is retired or very busy man... Sowing clover is not recommended if the owner of the site or his family members have allergic reactions to insect bites.