Best way to treat lawn overrun with clover - kid friendly

[SleepFreeZone]

I'm not sure the best way to tackle the lawn. It is overrun with clover, and now overrun with bees. Which have led to both children getting stung 😬

The lawnmower doesn't catch all the clover when we mow so there are always bees in the lawn. It sounds wonderful for the wildlife but unfortunately the children step on them and get stung.

I was looking at the weed and feed type products and they are obviously not safe for babies and my 17 month old is stil at that stage where he is putting things in his mouth. I went out there with the rake yesterday and tried to lift the clover so my partner could get the lawnmower over it and clear it a bit but the lawn really is a state. Hardly any grass growing, predominantly clover and daisies.

Anyone got any advice?

If the lawn looks thin and soil hard I would try airaiting with a fork, fertilizer and over seeding, watering to make it richer. To try and encourage grass to take back over. If it's a lush clover I don't know!

For a serious response - no idea.

For a light-hearted response get at least 2 guinea pigs

To be honest, its really difficult without fertiliser/weedkiller. There's good advice here RHS clover in lawns advice. Can you just keep him off the lawn for a few days while the weed and feed washes in? Alternatively this autumn you could get someone in to kill off the lot and replace the lawn (but even that might not work as clover is resistant to weedkillers, and relatively expensive).

Cover is a sign that the soil under your lawn is lacking nitrogen. You can add nitrogen by sprinkling well composted manure, or ordinary garden compost. You need a few handfuls per square metre. With little ones you could do this just before you go on holiday, incase they fancy licking the lawn.

Or you could use a liquid comfrey feed, which once soaked in, would be ok fit little ones. Commercial comfrey feeds are available, you might have to look somewhere like the organic garden catalogue. Or you can make your own by half filling a bucket with comfrey leaves, covering the with water ad having for a fortnight. You end up with a mixture that smells of farm yard, which you dilute 1:10 with water, and water your lawn.

Any of these methods will show results within about 3 weeks, and the effect will last several years.