There are few things nicer in the summer than having a nice, thick, green lawn to enjoy. But lawns comprised of grass come with an environmental cost. These grassy fields often require quite a bit of maintaining and can be the source of pollution in the form of mower emissions and different chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
This year, you should consider tearing out your grass and instead planting a clover lawn. Here’s why.
1. Nitrogen fixer. As a legume, clover works symbiotically with bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to both itself and neighboring plants. That’s why even lawn grasses grow better when clover is present.
2. Less fertilizer. A lawn containing clover needs far less fertilizer, and a 100% clover lawn needs none.
3. Drought Resistant. With its deep roots, clover will remain green through drought, as your neighbor’s lawns turn brown.
4. No mowing. A pure clover lawn doesn’t need mowing, but if you do decide to mow, you’ll only need to do so 3 or 4 times a year.
5. No aerating. Clover can grow in and loosen compacted soil, eliminating the need to aerate.
6. No herbicide. If you’re concerned about a uniform looking patch of green, you don’t have to worry about other “weeds.” Clover tends to smother them as is somewhat invasive.
7. Ground cover. Clover makes an excellent ground-cover for food crops.
8. Beneficial pollinators and wildlife. Clover produces attractive white flowers that attract beneficial pollinators likes bees and butterflies and provide forage for rabbits (and humans).
9. Repels pests. A lawn rich in clover tends to discourage pesky insects, most of which prefer grasses. Grubs will disappear entirely in an all-clover lawn.
10. Sun or shade. Clover grows well in both sun and partial shade.
11. Dogs can pee on it. Clover doesn’t turn yellow when dogs pee on it.
Want to make your yard more sustainable and wildlife friendly, but still want a soft patch of grass to play on? Plant clover!
You can either mix it in with your current grass or have a completely clover lawn.
Clover requires zero fertilizer or herbicide and little to no mowing or watering. Meanwhile it improves the soil, attracts bees, butterflies and other beneficial bugs for your garden. And, it’s even softer to sit on than grass!
And if you don’t want so many white flowers in your patch of green, no problem. Over the last decade a new variety of white clover called microclover has become the trend across Europe and is just becoming a thing in the United States. The microclovers are smaller, don’t grow so many flowers and have softer stems for sitting and walking on.