Your Microclover Questions Answered (Part 1)

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.