My neighbor Dot talked me out of hating my lawn after 15 years of fighting it.

She told me she just lets the clover take over and waters once a week, and after seeing her yard stay green through the August heat while mine turned brown, I finally realized I was just doing extra work for no reason - has anyone else just given up on the perfect grass thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_west29d ago

bennett.evan makes a good point about the moisture and the bees, that's really the main thing people don't think about with clover. I let mine take over naturally, just stopped watering so much and stopped putting down all those weed killers and fertilizers, and the clover just came in on its own after a year or two. The bees are a real concern if you've got little kids who love to run barefoot through the yard, but honestly, they mostly stay on the flowers and don't bother nobody if you're not stepping right on them. The slippery part is true too, my grandkids slip on the wet clover way more than they ever did on the old grass, but it's soft so they don't get hurt bad. Lee847, I'd say just let it do its thing if you're tired of fighting the lawn, you can always mow it a little higher than normal to keep the flowers from getting too thick and bringing in every bee in the neighborhood.

lee8471mo ago

Man, that clover thing is real isn't it? I'm curious though, did you just let it completely take over or did you seed it in on purpose? I've heard mixed things about clover getting too thick for kids or pets to run around on.

bennett.evan29d ago

You've got it a little backwards on the thickness thing (not trying to be picky). Clover actually stays lower to the ground than most grass, it doesn't really get thick in the way people worry about. The roots are shallow too, so it's actually softer underfoot for kids and pets compared to a dense fescue or bermuda lawn. I've heard the opposite complaint, that clover can be too thin or patchy for heavy foot traffic, not that it gets too thick. The real issue is that clover holds onto moisture longer, so it can get slippery after rain if you're running around on it. Bugs and bees are probably the bigger concern with clover for kids (since the flowers attract them), not the density of the ground cover.