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Landscape Design

Will Clover Grow in Muddy Lawn?

3 years ago

I live in Southeast Virginia. near Colonial Williamsburg. My front yard is a muddy mess when it rains and hard as cement during the summer. I recently had two large shady trees removed and am motivated to try installing a lawn again.

In the past, my hubby and I tried grass with repeated very sad failures. Consequently, I am now thinking of clover. Is that is an option? What type should I use? Any words of wisdom?

Featured Answer

Christopher CNC

3 years ago

There was a time when children grew up outside and were expected to get stung. The overwhelming majority of them survived.

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Comments (10)

mindshift
3 years ago
There are many species of clover, and they can prefer many soil types. There are two perennial types commonly grown. According to Wikipedia, Red clover (Trifolium pratense) grows from 8-31 inches tall, so it's not a lawn substitute. It has a deep tap root that makes it more tolerant of drought. It improves soil by fixing nitrogen and adding organic material as a green manure. White clover (T. repens) is low growing, forming mats as it roots along nodes of the stems. It tolerates mowing and prefers clay soil. There may be other better clover species and varieties that your local county extension agent can suggests. You should be able to find yours HERE.
mikkibookmite
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you very much. I am leaning towards the White Clover that you mentioned. However, I will contact my county extension agent first for advice first.
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I love the idea. I have a bermuda lawn and as mentioned, bermuda is next to impossible to get rid of without roundup. I have one patch of white clover (which is incidentally in a spot which tends to be more moist) and it is thick, competing with the bermuda. My soil is awful, overall. I may try throwing around a bag of white clover seed in the existing lawn in other spots, and see what happens. On the other topic mentioned (thin poor soil with little organic matter) here is what I did. It is starting to work, after three years. The dog pen was mostly in the shade of oak trees. It had a little shade tolerant prairie grass, but that quickly got trampled. The large shady part of the pen (_huge_ pen with only two dogs; amazing how quickly they can ruin it) turned into a mudhole when rainy and "concrete" when dry. Tree roots were starting to get exposed from erosion. I started going to the free mulch place and getting truckloads of wood chips. I scattered them in the dog pen, starting with the muddy and eroded spots and going from there. Grass is starting to come back a little, and the wood chips keep the mud and erosion under control. They are starting to break down, and I keep adding more. I think eventually the soil will get back, not to its native "before dogs and humans" state.
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The weeds you have should pluck out relatively easily in moist soil. Some of those have embarrassingly weak root systems. If you have huge areas of the weeds and want to spray them, some of them react quickly to vinegar spray. I have seen Dutch white clover growing in the Texas Panhandle but it wasn't doing very well. Of course even the bermuda was having trouble in that turf(!). I have read here that clover likes an acidic soil, which you probably don't have in DFW. I would like to read about Texas clover installations to see if anyone is having good luck with it. I do know of a variety of zoysia, called Shadow Turf, that will grow very well in the shade. It is aggressive and will invade flower or veggie beds unless you have a solid barrier at least 3 inches deep and an inch or so above ground. It is expensive - one set of plugs (64 plugs?) will cost you about $90, but like I said, it is aggressive and will spread out until it is physically stopped. If you can find some at a nursery that looks pretty good, now is a great time to install it. I planted Shadow Turf last May and will be watching it carefully this year as it competes with bermuda to take over a patch in my stone driveway. I have a couple pictures of it growing in deep shade. I need to figure out a link for those so you can see.
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@dianey: you didn't mention where you live, but it seems clear you have a northern lawn, given that you mentioned the heat and not wanting to fertilize. Northern grasses like KBG, rye, fescue do not like the summer heat. This is why growth slows or stops in July/August. My neighbor hasn't mowed for three weeks because he doesn't need it. I still mow weekly because I'm doing the right things for the lawn, but that's another story. The problem is that you seeded in the spring. You may or may not lose much of the lawn depending on how hot the rest of the summer is. Seedlings don't do well in the heat. I would use the Weed B Gone CCO. It does work and you might need more than one application unless you get the clover nice and wet the first time. Just wait another few weeks into later August (again, depending on where you live) and you can reseed. Don't till or aerate the soil. You could make a new post asking about a fall seeding plan, but include what kind of grass you have, where you live, and so on. Lots of people here will help make sure you do it right.
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cecily 7A
3 years ago
My lawn contains large patches of white clover. It does well in average or dry years but suffers during wet years. Definitely talk to VCE.
mikkibookmite
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the advice. The extremes of dryness (in summer) and raininess (in the Spring and Fall) here in Virginia are the reason that our past efforts with grass failed IMHO.
cecily 7A
3 years ago
The neighbor's zoysia handles both extremes well but it creeps and invades planting beds. In the past decade that we've lived in this home, the zoysia has traveled six feet into my yard. I'm glad to have it - we've been plugging it into other areas of our yard. One possibility you could consider.
D M PNW
3 years ago
Clover looks great but are there children that play there? Clover is a bee magnet.
D M PNW
3 years ago
I understand that, Christopher C Nc. Just mentioning it as not everybody is aware.
mikkibookmite
Original Author
3 years ago
No, I don’t have any kids. However, the neighbors have two hardy Boy Scouts. I assume they know how to respond to bees, but will ask before planting.
Flora S
10 months ago
I am establishing a bare lawn about 1/4 acre with clover and surprisingly it is growing at a rapid pace in muddy areas that get too much water as well as in shade. It seems to like damp condition. Where there is less shade the growth is very slow, barely sprouting. I found a bunch of clover growing underneath rocks. This is white clover I’m talking about.

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