Cleveland Weeds - White Clover

This is a post that relates to the Cleveland Weeds project.

In this post I am going to cover White Clover

Spring
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SummerComing Soon

FallComing Soon

Latin Name: Trifolium repens
Common Names: White Clover
Lifespan: Perennial

Conditions it likes: Prefers sunny spaces that are moist but not wet and low in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus. Is most likely to be found in your lawn but can be found in garden beds as well. If you find it growing in your beds or lawn, this is a sign that your soil is low on nitrogen.

Spreading habits: Spread by seeds or creeping stems.

Best way to eliminate it from your garden:

Organic: Manually weed out from your lawn and beds remembering to remove as much of the root as possible. Improve soil quality by adding nitrogen but reduce the amount of phosphorus you add to the soil. Many weedings may need to be done before the problem is eliminated because if any roots are left, they will resprout.

Non-Organic: Apply either an herbicide or pre-emergent in the early fall. White clover seeds and plants grow in cooler weather when temperatures are between 50F - 32F so their best growth will be in the fall, early winter and early spring. It’s best to apply your chosen chemical while they are in growth mode as it will go through their system better. I don’t know about you but I find winter and early spring a miserable time to be applying anything to my yard, so applying chemicals in fall is the best time.

Notes of interest: White Clover will attract bees to your yard. If you are a gardener, you may want to opt to let it grow in your lawn so that bees will come and pollinate your flowers, vegetables and fruits.

This gardener’s rating of this weed: Annoying but tolerable due to the bee benefit.