How To Kill Clover Without Weed Killers
When Clover begins taking-over lawns it tells us something very important about our lawn health, and most importantly about the health of our soils.
Also when we begin seeing Clover in lawns, we often see that our lawns themselves may also be turning brown or yellow in colour, as well as possibly having slowed growth and looking generally in poor overall health.
Clover Enriches The Soil With Nitrogen
All clovers are legumes , which means that they are nitrogen-fixers pulling nitrogen abundant in the atmosphere and fixing it within their root system with the help of some beneficial bacteria.
That means two things.
- Unlike regular turf, clover doesnt need any nitrogen fertilizer .
- It will enrich the soil itself with nitrogen, meaning that nearby plants will grow better and stronger.
Perhaps there is a deeper reason why clovers have been considered a lucky plant for so long!
Advantage #: Frequent Mowing
Clover will thrive when you keep your lawn mown short or when you keep it long. The problem is that keeping your lawn mown short puts stress on your grass and prevents it from growing strong roots. On our blog we have talked about best mowing practices and recommend raising your mower deck and keeping your lawn a little longer to promote healthy growth. Keeping your lawn short means you mow it less often, but you create ideal conditions for clover to outperform your grass.
Also Check: Hydroseeding Diy Kit
Whats Causing Clover In My Lawn
There are multiple reasons you could have clover sprouting up in your lawn, most of which have to do with your soil.
- Wrong Soil pH: The ideal soil pHhow alkaline or acidic the soil isfor most lawns is between 6.0 and 7.0. If your lawns soil is too acidic, it will be harder for grass to grow, and much easier for clover. Luckily, you can use soil amendments like lime to balance out the pH.
- Poor Nitrogen Levels: Clover thrives in soil with poor nitrogen levels. Grass needs nitrogen in the soil to grow well, while clover can obtain the nitrogen it needs from the air, effectively making its own fertilizer. Your soil may be low in nitrogen because youve used too much fast-acting fertilizer. While they promote rapid grass growth, they can ultimately lower your soil quality. Switching to organic fertilizer like manure or corn meal can help you avoid this.
- Compacted soil: Compacted soil prevents your grass from getting the nutrientsincluding nitrogenair, and water it needs. Luckily, you can break up compaction with a core or spike aerator.
Dish Soap Is What Kills Clover But Not Grass
If you are looking for a natural weed killer to kill off your clover problem, you can create a home made weed killer. Many gardeners have reported excellent results when used as a spot treatment.
- Spray bottle
To make this simple DIY weed killer spray, fill the spray bottle just shy of full with vinegar and add a few drops of dish soap. Shake the bottle to mix the ingredients.
Spray generously on clover as a spot treatment for clumps or use it as a spray for dandelions or other ugly weeds that sprout where you dont want them to. When spraying, do so with caution, as this weed killer may kill surrounding plants.
You May Like: Who Makes Greenworks Lawn Mowers
Ortho Nustedge Clover Killer
The ortho Nustedge is the best to spray to removes all types of clover and oxalis from your lawn. Because it consists of an amazing 32 Ounce power and amazing yellow purple Nustedge killer.
It has 2 in 1 quality means 2 items in one price that helps to remove clover and weeds also.
The Nustedge is the best choice for northern and southern yard grasses because this removes clovers on such a climate very fast as compared to another area.
The weed B gon is also good functionality of killing creeping charlie and wild violet. This acts fast to remove creeping Charlies roots and damaged their soil fertility as well. So this is 2 in 1 spray that helps you to remove your lawn clovers excellently.
How To Get Rid Of Clover In Lawn Naturally
Some people look well clover and some dont like it and want to get rid of it. There are many natural and artificial numerous way that tells you how to get rid of clover in lawn naturally and its a lot easier.
Exactly these white clover three-leaf pattern with a bean group and these type of clover fixed with NH3.
These get nitrogen from the air and put it into the underground soil. Some black medic and yellow oxalis are looked like clover and this mixing is used for turfgrasses because clover taking nitrogen from air which is beneficial for turfgrasses.
So commonly these are found in the lawn because of good fertilizer amount and watering. The herbicide is very helpful to remove such clover. These clovers are not dangerous for the lawn but also he has no benefit.
So in the article, you will learn all about clover and if you are looking to finish all the white green clover these below 10 ways are very useful for you. Using the 2 or 3 methods will end them forever and more of them we have experienced ourselves. So they are going to be useful so lets begin.
Recommended Reading: How To Kill Wild Violet Weeds In Lawn
Should I Eliminate Clover In My Lawn
There are numerous factors you may wish to keep clover in your yard. Due to its cooperative relationship with germs, clover functions as a natural fertilizer. Clover gets its nitrogen from the air and launches it into the soil. Another advantage clover outcompetes other weeds. So instead of something undesirable and unpleasant, you could get clover instead. You can also check another post like best ice fishing shelters.
How To Plant Seed Clover
- Clover seed should not be planted deeply. Sprinkling it on the surface or lightly raking it into the soil should suffice.
- It prefers full sun. It will grow in light shade, but less quickly. It won’t grow well in full shade.
- If you’re planting a shadier area, you may want to double the amount of seed.
- Keep newly-seeded areas moist until the new plants get a chance to establish.
Clover blooms attract a lot of bees!
You May Like: How To Eliminate Creeping Charlie
Preventing Lawn Clover Weeds Through Proper Lawn Care
After using one of our recipes to kill clover, there are steps to take to ensure that your lawn is healthy and full and remains weed-free. Weeds have a hard time thriving in a healthy yard, so this form of weed control is essential. If your grass has mossy patches in it, try using a moss killing soap to remove it.
- Grass seed
A natural ingredient that is considered a pre-emergent herbicide is corn gluten meal, which prevents clover weeds from germinating. Not only that, but corn meal is also an organic fertilizer with nutritional properties such as nitrogen.
In early spring, spread 20 pounds of powdered corn gluten meal for every 1,000 square feet of lawn. Follow this by watering the grass and then ensure that it remains dry for three days after treatment.
When mowing your lawn, set the mower height to three inches to prevent damaging the grass. The tall grass blades prevent the sun from feeding clover, therefore, preventing it from thriving.
Your lawn grass needs approximately an inch of water per week to remain healthy. Anything less than that will cause weeds to begin taking over your lawn. During dry times of the season, use a sprinkler to ensure the grass is getting the water it needs.
Tips To Kill Clover In Your Lawn Naturally
May 15, 2020
Organics
Clover is far from the worst weed to run into, as its relatively easy to kill using chemical herbicides. But what if you have children and pets who frequently play in your yard? The last thing you want to do is risk harming them by applying chemicals in their play area.
This is where natural clover herbicides can step in and handle weed control, sans chemicals. Below are four tips to kill clover in your lawn naturally without resorting to strong chemicals. Plus, you may already have some of these items sitting around the house.
Also Check: How To Kill Creeping Charlie In Lawn
Burn Clover With Ammonia
If you use ammonia to burn clover, you must do so correctly to ensure it is useful. The best time to apply ammonia to clover is one day after rain. If you dont want to wait for it to rain, you can water your grass and then apply the ammonia the next day.
Dont use household ammonia; instead, purchase ammonium sulfate as it is made specifically for lawns. Follow the instructions and apply to clover once a month. Pair the ammonia treatments with proper watering for the best results.
Step #1 Get The Right Products And Tools
Clover is easily damaged by many herbicides but its aggressive growth habit can often allow it to recover and return to the lawn. Eradicating it requires choosing the correct herbicide and applying it precisely. For cool season lawns, the best herbicide to use on clover is triclopyr. Triclopyr can be found as a standalone product or in blends where it is combined with other herbicides. I prefer blends as they fight dozens, if not hundreds of weeds with multiple modes of action. My favorite triclopy-containing four way is;T-Zone, a devastating product that makes quick work of clover and other broadleaf weeds.
Why DoMyOwn?DoMyOwn.com offers professional-grade insecticides to DIYers while ensuring proper storage of chemicals. Couple that with their impressive customer service and knowledgeable staff, its the #1 choice.
However, there are situations where using T-Zone or other blends is not advised, most particularly in lawns with exposed tree roots. Most blends including T-Zone contain the herbicide Dicamba which can be absorbed by exposed roots and cause severe damage to the trees that have produced them. In cool season lawns with exposed roots, it makes sense to use triclopyr as a standalone product ;this one from Hi-Yield;is excellent or combined in a homemade blend with;Tenacity.
To summarize
| Dismiss Turf Herbicide |
Don’t Miss: Too Much Oil In Mower
White Flowers In The Lawn Is It Clover
If you see white flowers in lawns in your garden, then the chances are that theyre clover. This small plant, which is technically a weed, has small flowers that are very fragrant and gather in clumps on the lawn. They are most often white, but you may also see pink, yellow, and red flowers from clover.
As we alluded to previously, there are some reasons why you might not want to kill clover in lawns, so lets take a look at some of those advantages.
Clover Fertilizes Your Lawn
Clover has a symbiotic relationship with good bacteria that attach themselves to its roots. This bacteria absorbs nitrogen from the environment which helps give the grass its green color. Where you have plenty of clover you will notice the grass is thicker and greener. You may worry that clover will overtake your lawn, but that wont happen. Clover actually helps your lawn thrive. Without clover, your lawn could dry out and turn brown from the summer heat, but with the clover it could stay green and lush.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Smallest Riding Lawn Mower
Cornmeal Gluten For Getting Rid Of Clover
Cornmeal gluten is a by-product of wet corn milling. It was originally used to feed domestic animals such as cattle, poultry, fish, and is even incorporated into dog food.
However, corn gluten meal is also well-known as a natural substitute for pre-emergent herbicides those that target the weed seeds.
How does corn gluten work?
When you apply corn meal gluten to your lawn, as it degrades, it releases compounds called dipeptides. These organic dipeptides cause seeds to dry out, preventing them from sprouting or developing normally.
It means that it will affect the weeds that are yet to sprout but wont damage the already established grass. However, it will also affect the seeds of any established weeds, preventing them from reappearing the next year.
Cornmeal gluten is a natural clover killer but is also effective against sprouting other well-known weeds such as crabgrass, chickweed, and dandelion. Additionally, it provides some nitrogen, which clover hates.
How to apply corn gluten?
About 20 pounds of corn gluten meal per 1000 square feet of the lawn should do the trick. Spread it over the lawn, water generously, and allow it to dry. The amount will also deliver about 2 pounds of nitrogen.
You can purchase cornmeal in garden centers.
Clover Provides Food For Bees And Butterflies
Clover species have very sweet, nectar-rich flowers that attract pollinators honey bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and hoverflies.
In times of great pollinator crisis, this is a nice way to contribute to the fight for our planets health. However, it may have a downside .
Side note: if you are afraid of wasps, good news. Clover doesnt attract many yellowjackets or hornets since the shape of its flowers makes it difficult for wasps to access their nectar.
Also Check: How To Control Clover In Your Lawn
Keep The Lawn In Good Health To Keep Clover Out
Keeping Clover out of our lawns, as well as most other weeds and diseases, is overwhelmingly a case of keeping the lawn as healthy as possible, including keeping up Nitrogen levels to the lawn soil.
If you havent already, begin implementing a good quality year-round organic lawn fertilising program.
This should be enough to help keep the lawn in good health and keep Nitrogen levels high enough in the soil that Clover will not take over again.
How To Get Rid Of Clover In Your Yard
1. Maintain a well-fed lawn
The best way to get rid of clover in grass is to put an end to them even before they grow. One way is to feed your lawn, as a conservative estimate, four times every year. This is because clover plants thrive in the less fertilized grass and regular feeding will provide the grass plants with the nutrients they need to grow thick and strong. With nitrogen rich, organic fertilizer, thick grass will then be able to force out broadleaf weeds, including clover.
2. Raise mowing height
While mowing your lawn, you might want to lower the lawn mower height to crop the white blooms, it would actually make more sense to elevate it. Weeds like clover grow low and their roots are often shallow. By raising your mower height, you allow the grass on the lawn to grow slightly taller. This effectively cuts off sunlight and prevents the undesirable clover growth in your lawn.
3. Pull clover manually
If you catch sight of clover in the vicinity of your lawn before they have grown into flowers and have started to spread, you can take the manual approach and remove patches of clover and clover seeds from small areas freehand. Clover extends through roots and crawling stems that will root through the lawn, so make sure you pull it as soon as possible.
Just remember to loosen the soil to separate any remaining roots that you may otherwise miss.
4. Use a Weed Killer
Read Also: Does Lowes Deliver Lawn Mowers
Reason : Microclover Provides Clover Benefits Without Drawbacks
Over the years many people have called us wondering how to eliminate the Clover in their lawns without using chemicals. Once they understand the benefits of Clover they often leave the Clover and even consider purchasing additional Microclover to help make the lawn more uniformly Clover covered!
The image above is of a lawn seeded with our Microclover which flowers much less prolifically than standard White Clover and is aggressive enough to spread evenly through a lawn. We’ve found that lawns planted with Microclover stay greener, healthier, and have fewer weeds than lawns with no Clover. In addition, they need less fertilizer and water. So, if you’re now of the mindset that if you can’t “beat clover, join clover” then you might want to learn a little more about it by visiting our Microclover page. You can also purchase Microclover at our online store.
When Should I Spray My Lawn For Clover
The best time to spray White Clover is before the temperature reaches the 80s. The best made for retail product usually recommended is a herbicide called Turflon Ester Ultra. It is often effective on clover during the warmer months because, in warmer months, clover might grow right through the weaker herbicides.
You May Like: Does Lowes Deliver Lawn Mowers
Let Your Clover Boom To Help Bee Colonies
However, if you are not allergic and have older children , please consider letting it bloom. Bees are threatened around the world by a mysterious condition called colony collapse disorder . When a hive is struck by CCD, the worker bees spontaneously abandon the hive and disappear, leaving the queen, a few larvae, and the immature workers to starve. The cause of CCD is still unknown, but it is believed to affect hives stressed from habitat loss, parasites, and pesticide use most drastically.
Honeybees are the primary pollinators for a third of all human food crops. Some, such as almonds, are 100% dependent on honeybees to produce. If honeybee populations continue their rapid decline, food prices are likely to increase dramatically. To learn more about this crisis, please visit The Pollinator Partnership or the Xerces Society.
Homeowners can help by ceasing their use of chemical pesticides and insecticides, and letting their clover bloom.
