I too have a small grass lawn and at one point it was filled with clovers and other weeds. It's base is mostly clay and topsoil. I tried the herbicide route before to no avail. They always returned. Unless you wish to kill your entire lawn by covering them up, there is no other solution but to dig them up. I have tried those weed clamps that do pull out small weeds effectively but not large and established ones. Let me tell you how I managed to do this. First I watered the lawn so the ground is wet and weeds are easily pulled out. Next, I took a shovel and sunk it just a short distance away from the weeds and digging down to just beneath the roots of the weeds and I rocked the soil a bit to futher loosen up the roots. At that point, the weeds are easily removed. And with regards to dandelions, make sure to remove all parts of the plant as these will regrow from its roots. Sure it took a few days to completely eliminate the yard, but it was well worth that effort. Plus by loosening up the soil, I also managed to aerate my lawn at the same time. My lawn now looks rich and lush. I still have the odd weed or two, but these are new weeds and this time, a hand trowel easily does the job. -now for the boulevard grass which sits on a rocky soil, this particular task is impossible. I hit rock hard earth and so digging is too difficult. So instead, I'm opting to remove the weeds by mass killing all the grass and weeds away. It takes maybe a couple of weeks to a month under completely black cover like thick newspaper layers. Once dead, i can reseed or resod the area. I prefer to reseed since we are close to fall and we can once again sow grass seeds.

My lawns are all former pastureland so they were well fertilized in their past lives by livestock. Only deer and rabbits graze and fertilize it now. Since I have at least an acre of lawn, I definitely do not fertilize or water it, ever. Nor has it ever, nor will it ever, see pesticides or herbicides. We mow it at a high setting, not close to the ground because it is healthier for the plants. Back in the day we used to re-seed any bare patches with a combination of white clover and bluegrass seed. It gets less wear and tear from animal hooves these days, so re-seeding has not been necessary in recent times. I have clover in the lawn, both white and red, many types of grasses (pasture grass and lawn grass), dandelions, mint in the wet spots, violets, and a host of other plants. I love the diversity. Every summer the clover blossoms attract a host of pollinators.

As a rule the White Dutch Clover that grows best in lawns grows there because of lack of adequate levels of Nitrogen in the soil. When I was growing up people would seed the WDC into their lawns for that reason. If you do not want it there the first thing to do is get a good, reliable soil test to see where the other major nutrients are (Soil Nitrogen most likely will not be tested) so you can make a reasonably intelligent assessment of what that soil needs to grow a healthy lawn free of the Clover.

Hi docmom, thanks for joining our discussion. ( : I have a weird situation here....no weeds except one type yet. Oddest thing I've ever seen. Anyway, so far so good. We will see what happens when it warms up...but the soil was bare for over 1 month and no growth when it was warm. weird and wonderful. So, going to try spot control for awhile. Then if things go like they have in my past gardens the mulch will be considered. I would also like to get my hands on some Bellium minutum Miniature Daisy seeds, but the only place that had them did not have free shipping, so cost too much. I have some creeping thyme seeds coming. Fun to hear from all, would love to see some pics of your projects! Blessings, Waterstar