Identifying White Clover

White Clover is a weed everyone knows, the three green serrated leaves, white cotton ball flowers, and creeping stems don’t make this weed a welcome or sightly visitor in the home lawn. It is a favourite food source for bees which makes it important to kill in areas where children play. It’s not difficult to control or kill, but wrong management of White Clover will lead to it spreading at a very rapid rate to eventually dominate a lawn.

Controlling White Clover

White Clover can be extremely difficult to kill because it spreads very easily in many different ways. Even the process of removing Clover from lawns can re-propagate the weed again.

White Clover has the ability to propagate from it’s own clippings so it’s important to always mow with a catcher on the lawn mower when mowing lawns with a Clover infestation.

The weed often becomes more evident or flourishes when nutrient levels in the lawn drop below healthy levels for the lawn. Regular lawn fertilising will greatly aid in the natural control of Clover in home lawns.

If Clover continues to persist in spite of a good fertilising program then a pH test should be done to the lawn soil. A test kit is readily available from gardening stores for a few dollars. Alkalinity or acidity should be adjusted as required.

Killing White Clover

White Clover can be removed from lawns by prying it’s roots from the turf with a small gardening tool, or with a sharp knife, being sure to cut the weed off deep at the roots. The weed should be removed carefully from the lawn in a plastic bag, being sure not to drop any pieces of the Clover back onto the lawn.

White Clover can be killed with selective herbicides which are sprayed onto the lawn. These herbicides are available at your local garden supply store.