Tried it but my seeds were unfortnately rife with chenopodium which it took several years to eradicate. I've been told it works very well indeed though - but it does attract a lot of bees when in flower.

If you're in a mild area you might want to give corsican mint a go,
Absent

Interesting idea. Iwas planing to do that myself a couple of years back when I decided I had more clover than grass in my lawn. I changed my mind and turned it into a wildflower meadow instead. You should be the envy of your neighbors in the summer as your clover lawn should still be green when everybody elses lawn has gone yellow though. Keep us posted with the results

I've got Very Thick clumps of seedlings (no true leaves yet), so hope its all clover. The seed was pelletized, so couldn't see it. Had some heavy rain a week or so ago so have some bare spots and some extremely crowded spots. My nearest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away, so this is for me and not the neighbors...I'm just tired of red clay. LOL
I'll post a follow up from time to time to let y'all know of the progress.
I've read about the corsican mint...that sounds really interesting too!

The clover didn't go dormant until late December and it started greening up again in late Feb, so I had only 6 weeks or so of non-green time. It's the best $5 I've ever spent!

How tall will white clover get in the lawn?

In a shady compacted area, common white clover doesn't get taller than 1-2" (in my yard at least). In more favorable conditions, it can reach 4-6".

It sounds really pretty. Our lawn here in Seattle is old, depleted, compacted, full of dandelions (some clover, not much), and has many dead areas. (Sounds charming, doesn't it?) I wonder if any clover would grow if I scratched the dead spots with a rake and spread the seed... our summers are pretty dry. I wonder if clover is drought tolerant, assuming it gets rain while germinating?

chancygardener, how is your clover lawn coming along?

Hi Seattle, sorry to take so long to answer, haven't been to this forumI in a while. I think it would work to just lightly scratch the dead areas and throw on the clover seed. I used a rake and scratched as best I could in the hard clay...deepest was probably only 1/4 inch. The only time I watered was when the seedlings were tiny, tiny things. Sunflower was right about the height. In sunny areas & over the septic lateral lines, it gets pretty deep. In shady, compacted areas, its kinda short and scrawny. I've been mowing the clover since the first of May. I'm in a clearing in the middle of some woods and dont like stepping where I cant see my feet...snake factor.

Update?

How well would clover stand up to dog traffic?

Enjoyed seeing this...many years ago I had a mostly shady back yard with moist red clay acid soil. I was planting all sorts of groundcovers (didn't want much grass) and an article recommended Dwarf White Dutch Clover and a little bag of black dust called innoculant to be mixed with the seed. It was to be used whenever the soil was disturbed to prevent weedseeds from sprouting. It would be up within a week, evergreen in zone 8, reseeded itself, and enriched the soil. I could easily plant small groundcover plants like Ajuga, Heuchera, Asarum which would gradually crowd out the clover. Worked great in that small backyard, and later I used it whenever planting a new area. I would sprinkle the clover seed and add a light pineneedle mulch, water and walk away. I swear it seemed like magic dust!

Now I'm not a neatnik...I don't mind even Glechoma hederaceae otherwise known as Creeping Jenny. It too is evergreen, and filled in corners under shrubs and trees nicely. Like with the clover, bulbs and ferns would come up thru it easily. It and the clover would get taller in the shady corners under the mixed shrubs we had planted for privacy, and grow almost flat in the sunnier center of the yard. We mowed perhaps three-four times in the summer. There had been a bit of grass but as the trees grew there was less and less. St. Augustine had been planted by previous owner in the rest of the yard and grew well. I'm not sure what had been planted out back but it didn't grow well in that space.

I've since seen the Dwarf Dutch White Clover
recommended for use on paths , particularly in veggie gardens. I would think it would be fine for paths. That small fenced back yard was playspace for my 2-year old and his friends for 3 years. Pets, too, were welcome. (Then all kids and pets were banished to much larger side garden and the space became my playplace for plant trials, potting, tropical plants' summer home, etc.).

We lived there for 30 more years..the clover was still flourishing. The shrubs and trees were larger, and the sunny center was smaller, but it was a pleasant green place year round. I miss it. josh

I think a clover lawn would be great! Can I spread seeds over my regular lawn until it takes over? Also where can I find clover seeds?

Thought this thread was interesting, since it began in 2003 and was periodically updated. I'm also wondering how well clover holds up to dog traffic--particularly dogs running back and forth.

I've grown chamomille as a small lawn patch (about 20 square metres) in Canberra Australia - it handled frosts down to minus 8 C and summer temperature up to 36 C.
It never grew more than 5-10cm tall.
any type of mint is worth a try - run the mower over the patch when it gets too big or stock upon mint sauce :-)

I like the idea of clover lawn but I don't care for the bees. My two dogs chase anything that moves. And I have two small children that would be playing in the yard. Would be great if you could keep the bees away.

Gemfire

So you are saying if I scatter the white clover seed on my hard, compacted clay it will actually grow? I've given up on having green in my backyard because of that awful soil, and because I can't afford to tear up everything and re-till it.

Gemfire, my mom's lawn had a lot of clover in it when I was a kid, and as I recall regular mowing kept it from flowering much. And of course the flowers are what attract the bees. Mow and no bees, I guess.

Kristin

Just a week and a half ago we had some land cleared and some stumps pulled. We didn't loam or rake in but just put down with a spreader a white clover / low mow grass mixture and then a wildflower mixture in the center. That's it, no watering, no raking....just watching it grow. We did have a few days right after seeding of soaking rain which I'm sure was a big help. So far the clover is incredible with a fine green covering the meadow. I even see some grass starting to come up through. In the wildflower section I can spot some sprouts which I hope are the wildflowers. A few weeks more should tell how well it comes out. And next year will really tell the longer story. We have a hydroseeded lawn up around the house which is doing extremely well (was planted last summer) but we didn't want to add anymore to our weekly mowing chores. I imagine we'll mow the meadow once or maybe twice a year and then just watch it grow. I'm feeling pretty good from the comments of others that have grown the clover.

Does the clover come back nicely the next season? We do get heavy frost and snow most of the winter, here in NH.

Sheila

I like the idea of clover too, but wouldn't it draw a lot of bees?

Pam

I am trying a clover lawn myself, and have two dogs who have virtually hammered my backyard into a Utah desert landscape.
So far the clover has sprouted very vigorously, although I have yet to unleash full time dogfoot attack on it.

I have to say however, the best plant I've found for lawn traffic is alehoof or mint Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea). The stuff stands up to an incredible beating and just continues to spread. Looks great too.
I laugh at people who spray the stuff as a weed......I wish I could find it in bulk seed, I'd cover my whole lawn with it. Sure beats mud and bare concrete-hard dirt.

I'm planning on removing my front blvd. grass and replacing it with ground cover such as creeping jenny. I'm tired of mowing the lawn and think that ground cover is a much better alternative.

I too have been considering a clover lawn. But am still hesitating, mostly because of the neighbor & bee factor. I have two young boys who like to play outdoors in our 1/3 acre yard. We live in surburbia and it's not that I care much about what the neighbor thinks of our yard, but I think they'll be up in arms if the clover spread into their carefully manicured lawns. How do we control the spread of clover?

I decided a few years ago to quit with the chemical weed killing and started putting down a lot of white clover seed last fall. The clover took off like crazy anywhere there was exposed dirt (clay, that is, and I'm talking a full-sun front yard), and I'm seeing patches of clover here and there in my regular lawn. I sowed clover in my shady backyard also, not much happening there just yet. I'd be fine with the clover taking over and will keep putting it down. Smells great and I'm not seeing that many bees right now (the bees don't bother me; I'm hoping the neighbor kids and the mailman will get intimidated enough to eventually quit traipsing across my lawn when the sidewalk is right there). I did pull a lot of dandelions earlier this year but again, am hoping the clover will eventually choke out the worst of the weeds (?) Say, does anybody have any pictures of clover lawns?

sounds like it would attract deer - not a good thing around here. I wish I could just turn the front into a huge courtyard...

we moved into our new house in the dead of winter, this didn't give me time to prep the lawn for spring.we have a big yard and i wish to convert it to a part veggie/fruit garden and part lawn...the previous owner of the house used chemical applications and come spring the yard was rife with dandelions but i love the clover that has sprouted and wish to cover crop the yard with clover to fix the nitrogen hungry soil....but should i remove the dandelion-mow-rototill and reseed or should i reseed in bare patches and let it take over.

As for the 'veggies not grass' movement, there are a lot of people going that route. Here in Phoenix, it takes an act of god to remove the stuff, but here is a link that will show you how we do it here.

http://www.4dirs.com/fdpc/bermuda.html

also check out this site about some very successful conversions from grass to other more beautiful and productive yards.

http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/tag/edible-landscaping/

What is the name of the low clover with tiny yellow flowers? Not the kind with burrs. I need something for a packed down area under the tree swings where my kids play. I've got the areas between flagstone paths filled with elfin thyme, various mosses and some other tiny pretties, but in this larger area I'd sure like to do something more interesting than mondo grass to fill in the shady area until it meets the sunnier grassy areas. Where do you find clover seed? I want to try this.

By the way, we're in the process of raising the height of our low chain link back fence. We're putting rebar in the ground and connecting it with twine, springs, found objects, garbage-picked stuff, etc. I killed the grass/weeds in the alley easement, and, once the "fence" is done, I'll plant climbing fruits and veggies in the easement and turn it into a 6' tall edible wall. I am so excited about this! Will post pictures as it comes along.

I'm planning replacing my front lawn with clover eventually. I LOVE the idea of a no-mow no-fertilizer lawn that smells great, feels great, and attracts bees.

I'll be using something different for the back, though, so little kids and dogs can run on it without fear of bees or killing the lawn. Clover doesn't like being tread on to that extent.