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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

Clover lawn?

33 replies

thefatpotato · 20/08/2022 21:27

Just as the title says, does anyone have a lawn with clover instead of grass (or any other ground covering?).

We have two patches of grass which are about 1.5 x 3m. The grass which has popped up is very patchy and long and I don't like it, the kids won't walk on it as it is, and I like the idea of having something which might be of more benefit to pollinators.

Has anyone done/heard of this?

OP posts:
Sparklypant · 20/08/2022 21:27

I don’t but it’s very popular. You can also get mixes, lots of different types of lawns you can explore.

Blackdiame · 20/08/2022 21:32

I only moved into our house last year but the 'lawn' that was there, which is a similar size as yours, I've let to go a bit wild. There's some red and white clover in patches and another purple flowering thing. Bit of moss over the winter. I'm thinking of adding some yellow rattle which I believe is a parasite to grass and produces lovely yellow flowers.

Dox9 · 20/08/2022 23:18

The new housing estate next to us has clover lawns. It's absolutely buzzing with bees in summer! The playground is right next to the lawns ans they don't bother kids in the slightest. I don't think it needs much maintenance (the state of the rest of the landscaping in there suggests they don't do much upkeep 😉).

MereDintofPandiculation · 21/08/2022 08:50

and another purple flowering thing Possibly self heal - google it and see what you think

SnowdropsInSpring · 21/08/2022 11:07

Creeping thyme?

Blackdiame · 21/08/2022 13:11

MereDintofPandiculation · 21/08/2022 08:50

and another purple flowering thing Possibly self heal - google it and see what you think

Yes! That's exactly what it is thank you.

TheHorrorOfIt · 21/08/2022 13:17

My front lawn is clover. It wasn’t deliberate; it’s quite dry there and the clover eventually crowded out the grass, over several drought periods. It’s very easy to mow!

EdithWeston · 21/08/2022 15:07

Can you use the sort of white clover seed (sold as green manure) mixed in with lawn dressing? Or do you need a hardier sort?

Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:13

EdithWeston · 21/08/2022 15:07

Can you use the sort of white clover seed (sold as green manure) mixed in with lawn dressing? Or do you need a hardier sort?

I've no idea! I e been a garden owner for all of 8 weeks so this is all very new to me!

OP posts:
Staynow · 21/08/2022 15:17

Doesn't clover die back completely over winter?

Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:20

Thanks everyone, this is so helpful! The lawn which is there is in a dire state anyway so if I need to do work on it I'd rather than something for the bees, which is lower maintenance to boot!

OP posts:
FallOutPloy · 21/08/2022 15:20

In order to get the benefit to pollinators, you'd have to let it grow longer than a standard lawn (the flowers grow higher than the leaves). Not a particularly big deal, unless you're hoping to play football on it.

fallfallfall · 21/08/2022 15:22

@thefatpotato it’s a special type of clover though. Micro clover so order from a specialty shop.

JudithHarper · 21/08/2022 15:24

I mow the lawn twice a year. The clover is high and there were so many of the white flowers that the bees had to form a queue. I let anything grow in my lawn with the exception of dandelions, thistles and nettles.

For next year, I am going to scatter some wild flower seeds and see what happens.

Athenajm80 · 21/08/2022 15:25

I scattered wildflower seeds over my old lawn but it's pretty much just the different grasses that have grown. There are lots of insects who seem to like it though and my cat enjoys it when I take her out in it. I do need to work out how to get some wildflowers to take hold. I am shit at gardening and have the opposite of green thumbs, so I need something simple!

I love it but it does need a cut as at the moment it just looks like I haven't bothered doing anything to my garden rather than the appealing wildflower mini meadow look I was going for!

FallOutPloy · 21/08/2022 15:33

@JudithHarper I'm curious why you don't like dandelions in the lawn? Is it just because they spread so quickly

Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:49

FallOutPloy · 21/08/2022 15:20

In order to get the benefit to pollinators, you'd have to let it grow longer than a standard lawn (the flowers grow higher than the leaves). Not a particularly big deal, unless you're hoping to play football on it.

I'm absolutely fine with that, there's no room to play football and we live next to a common!

OP posts:
Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:49

fallfallfall · 21/08/2022 15:22

@thefatpotato it’s a special type of clover though. Micro clover so order from a specialty shop.

Excellent, thank you for the info!

OP posts:
Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:51

JudithHarper · 21/08/2022 15:24

I mow the lawn twice a year. The clover is high and there were so many of the white flowers that the bees had to form a queue. I let anything grow in my lawn with the exception of dandelions, thistles and nettles.

For next year, I am going to scatter some wild flower seeds and see what happens.

This sounds delightful! I get excited by wildflowers but I also want to grow as much of our own food as possible so am trying not to get carried away with my flower plans.

OP posts:
JudithHarper · 21/08/2022 15:55

FallOutPloy · 21/08/2022 15:33

@JudithHarper I'm curious why you don't like dandelions in the lawn? Is it just because they spread so quickly

@FallOutPloy Yes, partly. Plus everyone else has them but the main reason is that I just don't like them to look at.

JudithHarper · 21/08/2022 16:04

thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 15:51

This sounds delightful! I get excited by wildflowers but I also want to grow as much of our own food as possible so am trying not to get carried away with my flower plans.

Show quote history

It's great watching the bees but I do want to introduce more varieties and colours of flowers, hence the wildflowers.

Alan grows whatever vegetables in tubs around the perimeter of our small garden but the clover is all mine.

Beancounter1 · 21/08/2022 17:12

There are basically two options for wildflowers, because they have evolved over millennia of farming in two ways:
One is cornfield annuals, which includes poppies. They evolved in fields that are ploughed every year. In the garden, you have to dig over the ground every autumn back to bare earth to get flowers the next year.
The second is hay-meadow flowers. Hay meadows are a vanishingly rare habitat, with many endangered species. They are never ploughed up, so in the garden you just mow about once or twice a year. (However when you are creating a new hay meadow from bare ground, you can buy seed mixes that have cornfield flowers mixed in so that you get some colour in the first year - those flowers tend not to come back in subsequent years.)
The third option would be a speciality lawn, perhaps chamomile? (I only know that chamomile makes lawns because it was the title of a novel decades ago.)

Original poster
thefatpotato · 21/08/2022 17:41

Beancounter1 · 21/08/2022 17:12

There are basically two options for wildflowers, because they have evolved over millennia of farming in two ways:
One is cornfield annuals, which includes poppies. They evolved in fields that are ploughed every year. In the garden, you have to dig over the ground every autumn back to bare earth to get flowers the next year.
The second is hay-meadow flowers. Hay meadows are a vanishingly rare habitat, with many endangered species. They are never ploughed up, so in the garden you just mow about once or twice a year. (However when you are creating a new hay meadow from bare ground, you can buy seed mixes that have cornfield flowers mixed in so that you get some colour in the first year - those flowers tend not to come back in subsequent years.)
The third option would be a speciality lawn, perhaps chamomile? (I only know that chamomile makes lawns because it was the title of a novel decades ago.)

Oh the hayflower meadow sounds gorgeous. I really want our teeny garden to be as good for biodiversity as possible to this sounds excellent. We plan on putting a green roof on our outbuilding as some point (it has a flat roof), would hayflower meadow types be good for this sort of thing?

I'm really uninterested in the idea of annuals, except to have a few here and there.

OP posts:
Elsiid · 21/08/2022 18:13

My friend has a camomile lawn. It's beautiful.

JudithHarper · 22/08/2022 17:30

It's just rained here, so there are no bees on the clover. However, there is a large group of birds, all shapes, sizes and species, digging around in the clover for the bugs.

Next doors immaculate lawn seems devoid of life.