Fertilize Your Lawn With Ammonium Sulfate
Ammonium sulfate might sound like a harmful chemical, but it is actually an inorganic salt containing 21% nitrogen and 24% sulfur. Widely used as fertilizer for alkaline soils, ammonium sulfate releases nitrogen into the soil while lowering its acidity.
This nitrogen-rich fertilizer not only helps grass grow but also controls clover. The bacteria in clovers roots engage in a process called nitrogen fixation, which is directly related to plant growth. By permeating the soil with nitrogen in ammonium sulfate, you increase its nitrogen levels, limiting the roots ability to fixate and grow.
You can purchase ammonium sulfate at a hardware or garden store and follow the directions on the container. Alternatively, you can contract with a lawn fertilizer service.
How To Get Rid Of Yellow Clover
After dandelion, yellow clover is the most common type of weed that you may find in your lawn. It grows very aggressively and hampers the growth of grass and plants in the yard. If not controlled in time, it starts flowering and produces seeds that keep it regrowing.
You also need to identify if youre dealing with yellow clover or yellow woodsorrel. One way you can tell the difference is by looking at the leaves and foliage of the plant. Yellow Clover has much darker leaves that are a bit smaller than yellow woodsorrel.
Yellow Clover has interconnected roots that have several plants growing from a single source. To get started, you use a weed removal tool to uproot it from its root. While pulling, make sure you dig deeper into the ground and avoid breaking off the roots.
It may be possible to physically remove the yellow clover with its root if you have a small lawn, but in a large yard, this approach may not be practical.
In that case, you can use a herbicide such as Bonide Ready to use clover and other weed killers that kill the yellow clover without damaging the grass or other plants.
You can also apply high nitrogen into the soil during the spring and fall. As yellow clover-like to grow in a low nitrogen environment, the high nitrogen level in the soil prevents the growth of yellow clover.
Recommended Reading: Love My Lawn
How To Get Rid Of Clover From Your Lawn
No doubt youve worked hard to maintain your turf, only to see a sea of invaders appear so how do you get rid of clover from your lawn?
While certainly not considered to be the worst variety of weeds found in many Aussie gardens, clover can actually prove to be beneficial in some scenarios. This plant variety brings a boost of nitrogen to the soil, and both fertilizes and encourages grass growth when it inevitably decomposes. It can also help to improve drought resistance.
Some grass blends can even include forms of micro-clover, as the nutrients can give most lawns a welcome boost. All the same, the crop of little white flowers generally arent appreciated if they are interrupting a well manicured field of green, and most of us simply opt to mow over the top layer of clover as a quick fix.
Read Also: What Kills Violets But Not Grass
Recommended Reading: How To Get Lines In Lawn
Removing The Clover By Hand
In some cases, you can actually dig the clover out of the ground, to remove it from your lawn without the need for weedkillers or other chemicals.
You may remove some areas of grass in the process, but its easy enough to overseed these bare patches, as we have discussed a bit below.
To remove clover, dig around it using a small gardening fork or hand trowel. Clover roots do not go very deep, so the main difficulty in this process is cutting through the initial layer of foliage, especially if clover is growing on top of existing grass.
Pull the clover out of the ground carefully, including its roots, and place it in a bucket or wheelbarrow, to prevent clover seeds from spreading onto other areas of your lawn.
If you see any roots, leaves, or seeds left over, try to carefully remove them from the soil. If doing this would be too difficult, it might be a good idea to smother the affected area for a week or two, to ensure that any remnants of the clover have time to decompose. We have explained how to do this below.
Dig Clover Up By Hand
Spotted some clover in your plot? ‘Dig it out at a very early stage before the plant starts to send out runners,’ advises David. Try to get all the roots to stop it from growing back. It’s easiest to do this when the soil is moist.
This will get increasingly trickier to do the longer you leave it, as they grow large networks of stolons that can be very time-consuming to remove. In more invaded areas, you may just wish to remove whole areas of lawn and replace it with fresh turf. Our guide on how to lay turf will come in handy here, or you can simply repair the lawn patches with seed.
Clover can be manually removed from lawns
Don’t Miss: How To Naturally Kill Clover In Lawn
Identify Clover Plants Correctly
Clover comes in a wide variety of species, and the kind of clover you might find in your landscaping is mainly determined by where you live.
Perennial Clover
In the United States, most clover falls into the perennials category. Perennial clover can live for two to three years, but it does not reseed well. You can find perennials such as white clover all over the United States. Another perennial, red clover,also grows nationwide but is more common in the northern and midwestern states.
Perennial varieties flower throughout the summer and stop growing only when they run out of water. These broadleaf weeds spread by seeding and through nodes that take root as the plant grows.
Annual Clover
Other, less-common clovers, such as arrowleaf clover and subterranean clover, are annuals. These plants complete their life cycles in a single year. Arrowleaf is most commonly found in the region stretching from East Texas to Georgia, while subterranean clover thrives in the temperate climates of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7.
Annual clovers germinate in the fall and continue to live through winter and early spring. They make use of winter rainfall for their hydration needs.
How To Get Rid Of Moss And Clover In Lawn
So you mow it regularly, give it some love and you cannot figure out why there clover and moss are constantly taking over your lawn?
Some people actually prefer to have a moss or clover lawn, if you live in an area that has the completely wrong conditions for growing grass then giving up and growing a moss or clover lawn may be the only option.
I am going to do my best to tell you how to get rid of moss and clover in your lawn so you can have a lawn that is thick with beautiful lush green grass and it is not a case of simply applying a herbicide to solve your problem.
If you are willing to take action it is possible to transform your lawn from a lawn that has moss and clover growing all over it and into the lawn of your dreams and the envy of your neighborhood.
The best way to get rid of moss and clover in your lawn is to mix baking soda with water and spray it over your lawn. You should test a small patch first to make sure this mix will not have a detrimental effect on your specific variety of grass. This is the easiest way to get rid of them both with one application.
Read Also: How To Treat Leaf Spot Disease In Lawn
Is Clover Ok In A Lawn
Clover can be OK in a lawn. It will be welcome if your aim is a wildlife garden, as it provides nectar for insects. And a lawn with flowers can be very desirable. Theres even a growing trend for clover lawns instead of grass versions. But if you want weed-free grass, then getting rid of clover from a lawn is necessary.
White Flowers In The Lawn
If you see white flowers in lawns in your garden, then the chances are that theyâre 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 letâs take a look at some of those advantages.
Read Also: How Do I Get Weeds Out Of My Lawn
Preventing Clover And Wood Sorrel In Your Lawn
Prevention is the best strategy when it comes to tackling clover in lawns. Heres what you should consider if you dont want clover in your lawn:
Fertilise: As mentioned, a good supply of nutrients is the key to controlling and preventing clover in lawns. A fertiliser high in nitrogen and low in phosphate, such as our Plantura Lawn Feed, is extremely effective.
Soil: Before sowing a lawn, it is best to ensure that the soil is loose, not too clayey and well aerated. To improve a heavy soil, work some sand into the top layer. It is also possible to scarify and sand an existing lawn, especially if the soil is quite clay-rich and heavy. Scarifying should only be repeated every few years when done too frequently, scarifying inhibits grass growth.
Watering: Lawn grasses are less drought tolerant than the most clover plants. So, it is important to water the lawn correctly. It is a good idea to find out what type of lawn grasses you have in order to learn how best to water your lawn.
Pruning: Regularly mowing the lawn encourages the grasses to branch out and create a dense surface. This reduces the risk of clover taking root.
Lime: To repel wood sorrel, keep your soil slightly acidic to neutral if the soil is too acidic, wood sorrel will flourish. We recommend doing a pH test on the soil to check the acidity level and find out how much lime you need to apply. If the pH test shows that the soil is too acidic, try applying a fast-acting lime.
Pull Clover Out By Hand
When you notice clovers springing up in small areas of your lawn, the best way to get rid of them is to do so by pulling the clover out with your hand. Make sure that you rip them out from the roots as clover propagates through stolons, that is through root connections in the soil.
You will need to use a spade or a weed knife to loosen the soil before you pull out the weed to ensure the root does not break and comes out completely. Loosening the soil will also allow you to spot any other hidden roots.
You May Like: When To Fertilize Lawn In Missouri
Getting Rid Of Red Clover In The Lawn
From April to October, the deep-rooted perennial red clover brings a touch of colour to lawns with its purple flowers. It thrives in similar conditions as white clover. So to control it, you can use the same methods of using nitrogen-rich and phosphate-poor fertiliser, digging out individual plants and covering them with a light-excluding material. Red clover not only has deep roots, requiring deeper digging for removal, but it also grows quite tall to anywhere from 15 to 80 cm. It can easily be kept short with a lawn mower. Take care not to cut the entire area too short though, as this will weaken the lawn and make it easier for the red clover to reproduce and spread further. A good cutting length is 4 to 5 cm.
Overview: Red clover
- Dig out red clover plants
- Mow red clover to weaken it
- Cover the affected areas
Dragging Or Reducing With Hands
This is also a simple and budget free process. Most people use this method in a hurry-up but without ant usage of hand gloves. Thats why after digging with handsome timed skin elegy occurs.
So in this method, you should wrap up gloves on your both hand and dragging or strains the clovers with both hands until cloves are uprooted.
You should Remember while dragging clovers on the lawn try to streched clovers to be uprooted not only the upper plant layer. If you drag or stretched only the upper clover plant layer it does not eliminate or removes permanently.
You May Like: What Should I Put On My Lawn Now
Which Type Is Best
Dwarf white clover attracts bees and other wildlife. If desired, you can control blooming by mowing.
The two varieties most commonly used in lawns are Dutch white clover and more recently, micro-clover . Heres what you need to know about these options:
Dutch white clover:
- Usually needs reseeding after 2-3 years.
- Stays green all year round .
- Blooms when mature, providing food for bees.
- Does best with 4-6 hours of sun daily.
- Seeds at a rate of about 1lb per 1000 square feet.
Micro-clover:
- Is fairly shade tolerant, though does best in areas with sun.
- Can be mowed shorter than white clover.
- Is tolerant to more foot traffic.
- Produces about 90% fewer blooms than Dutch white clover.
- Turns brown in winter due to dormancy period.
- Seeds at a rate of about 1lb to 300-600 square feet.
Use Corn Gluten On Clover
Another way to get rid of clover is to use corn gluten. Corn meal gluten kills off the clover without harming nearby plants. It works by releasing organic dipeptides into the soil. The dipedtides dry out the clovers seeds and make it hard for them to sprout. This well-reviewed product can be used by mixing three parts water to one part corn gluten. One liter of this mixture will cover about 1,000 square feet. Once applied, be sure to water well and then allow it to dry.
Note: While the dipedtides have worked to get rid of clover for some, corn gluten hasnt worked for all, and is therefore not universally regarded as a solution for dealing with clover.
You May Like: How Do I Get Rid Of An Old Lawn Mower
Ensure Optimal Conditions For Herbicide Application
Weeds need to be in a stage of active growth in order to be susceptible to the effects of herbicide. For clover, this means that the herbicide should be applied when there is a daytime temperature of at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Attempting to apply the herbicide when the temperature is any cooler than this will garner little to no results, and if the temperature is hotter than this, the herbicide is likely to damage the surrounding grass in addition to killing the weeds.
Its also important that the herbicide is applied onto a dry lawn, as dew, rain, and irrigation water will dilute the product and prevent it from sticking to the clover. Lastly, you should mow the grass before applying the product.
Its usually advised not to mow the lawn before applying a weed killer, as in doing so youre reducing the size of the weed, thus reducing the size of the target for the product. However, it is recommended to do so when trying to get rid of clover, otherwise the tall grass may block the product from reaching the low-growing weed. With that said, you should avoid mowing for at least 24 hours after the application to give it time to work its way down to the clover.
You May Like: Who Makes Ariens Lawn Tractors
Grass And Clovers Are Mutually Beneficial
Clovers are kind to grasses and considered companion plants. Even today, youll see many lawns and fields where clovers and grass coexist peacefully, side-by-side.
Jeff Lowenfels, veteran Anchorage Daily News gardening columnist, notes that clover was considered so essential for lawns back in the day that it was a standard, even necessary, component in lawn seed mixes. Says Lowenfels, You couldnt find a lawn seed mix without it!
Grasses even return some favors to clovers, especially when it comes to a lush and beautiful lawn. Says Sharapova, White clover can withstand foot traffic, but will do so better mixed with grass.
You May Like: Where To Get Your Lawn Mower Blade Sharpened
Spray A Vinegar Solution To Get Rid Of Clover
A good household remedy for clover is vinegar solution created by mixing equal parts of water and vinegar and adding a drop of dish soap to this solution. You will need a spray bottle to spray this solution over the clover to treat it. For a detailed explanation on the preparation process you can refer to Edens article on preparing vinegar solution for lawn care.
The benefits of this method is that this is an easy weed killer you can make yourself using ingredients that are available in every home. The application method is also easy as you just need to spot treat the clover by spraying the solution over the clover.
What Causes Clover To Grow In Your Lawn
A few things that can cause clover to grow in your lawn include the following:
- Compacted soil: Clovers thick root system lets it grow in tightly compacted soil that grass cannot root in.
- Lack of nitrogen in the soil: Clover thrives in nitrogen-poor dirt.
- Over-fertilization in one area: In this case, clover may thrive in one area while grass grows in another.
- Poor drainage: Clover can flourish in nearly any soil, including poorly drained areas where grass will not grow.
If you experience any of these problems in your lawn, youll need to address them before you can get rid of your cloverthat is, if you want to get rid of it.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Self Propelled Mulching Lawn Mower
