Sibe,

I have just set my lawn and already there is twice as much clover as lawn coming up. I am in a panic - should I treat the clover now or should I let the lawn get established first before I intervene?

Thanks.

Our gardening expert replies:

Hi,

As long as the grass eventually appears, I wouldn't panic too much. While clover used to be considered a lawn 'weed' it is now more often viewed as a useful plant, certainly by organic gardeners.

The advantages of having clover in your lawn are that it is attractive to wildlife such as bees and butterflies and it actually supplies nitrogen (a major plant food) to lawn grasses. This is possible because bacteria living in the clover's root nodules fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that can be used as a plant food by grass. This helps keep the lawn green. Clover also has the advantage of being able to withstand the over-frequent and over-short mowing that takes place so often and that seriously weakens and even kills lawn grasses. In times of severe drought it is possible that the only green bits left on your lawn will consist of clover!

Of course, you will see clover mentioned as a lawn 'weed' on bottles of lawn weedkiller and many people do persist in thinking of it as a weed. If you still want to be rid of it from an established lawn, the best way is to feed the grass regularly and not to cut it too short. It will then compete more successfully with the clover which will never completely disappear, but will supply the advantages mentioned above. White clover, in particular, spreads by seeds so if you want to reduce it make sure you remove lawn mowings when the clover is flowering. You could also reduce the growth of the clover by raking the lawn before mowing to raise the low growing clover runners so they can be cut by the mower.

Assuming you have just sown a new lawn, the fact that you have a lot of clover coming up already could mean that it was included in the mixture of lawn seed. Clover is often seen as a desirable inclusion and can be deliberately added to lawn seed mixes. The fact that it is coming up first could aid the establishment of grass later. If it is not mentioned on the packet then it would appear that you have not left the prepared lawn surface 'fallow' for long enough. It's often best to prepare the ground for a new lawn 2 - 3 months before you intend sowing it so that you can repeatedly hoe out annual weeds as they appear and remove perennial weeds as appropriate.

Happy gardening!
Sibe

For more practical advice on lawns, see Lawn Maintenance, Creating a Lawn From Seed and Creating a Lawn From Turf.

Meet UKTV Style's Gardening Expert, 'Sibe'.