I recently
received an email from a user of microclover in Spokane, Washington. He
asked several good questions about microclover in his lawn, and I will try to
address these one-by-one in the next three or four blog posts.
Last year, I
was looking for a low maintenance lawn alternative and seeded microclover
directly into a neglected lawn (mostly weeds) this past spring. The
clover has grown in quite nicely, and although other weeds still are prevalent,
I have been mostly pleased with these rich green, no-watering, shade tolerant,
nitrogen-fixing plants. I have a few follow-up questions I thought you may be
qualified to answer, given your research into this new variety of clover.
Question 1. Since microclover does not flower, I am concerned
about it maintaining a long-term presence in my lawn. Will
the current plants die after a couple years, or once established, will it
remain perpetually, all other things constant? If the former, do
you have any ideas for how to maintain a long-term clover presence?
The first thing I should mention is microclover DOES produce
flowers. You may not have seen them yet because of where you are
located, the time of year, weather conditions, or perhaps the fertility level
of your soil. However, I have observed flowering in my plots in Pennsylvania
beginning in late May and lasting through June and into July. The
attached photo shows fewer flowers in plots amended with compost than in
non-amended plots. This is likely due to more soil nitrogen in the
compost plots (microclover appears to produce fewer flowers when an abundance
of nitrogen is present). One other interesting observation: I saw much more
flowering last year compared to the year. I’m not sure why, but it
could be due to differing weather conditions between 2013 and 2014, or the age
of the stand.
If your
microclover is not producing flowers, don’t be concerned about
persistence. Microclover lives year to year as a perennial, and can
spread around your lawn via above-ground runners (stolons). It
survives heat and drought, as well as tough winters. I was concerned
this spring when I saw some dead patches of microclover in my plots (killed by
the extremely cold and icy conditions during the winter of 2014). However,
most of the clover survived and gradually filled in the dead patches. Of course
nothing lives forever, and it’s possible the clover will eventually fade from
your lawn. Extreme drought, excessive traffic, too much nitrogen, and broadleaf
herbicide applications are factors that can negatively influence persistence of
your microclover. The longevity of microclover in lawns is something
I hope to examine over the next several years.
