How To Get Rid Of White Clover Naturally

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You may have enjoyed making white clover necklaces s child, but now you find clover annoying. While clover provides some benefits to the landscape since it attracts bees, it can also cause allergies in some people. 

White clover can be challenging to get rid of, since you don't want to harm the grass. If you're concerned with using toxic chemicals, follow these steps to get rid of white clover naturally.

Prepare to Get Rid of the Clover

To remove the clover, gather:

• work gloves
• spray bottle
• shovel or trowel  
• soil plugger
• scissors
• sugar 
• corn gluten meal
• vinegar (optional)
• nitrogen fertilizer 

Don't mow the lawn before you get rid of the clover. Mowing the lawn can cause the clover seeds to spread. Instead of mowing, use scissors to clip small patches, and leave them on the ground to act as a fertilizer. 

Dig the Clover

An effective way to get rid of white clover is to dig it up by the roots. Removing clover by hand isn't suggested, because it causes the stolon, the part directly above and under the ground to sprout. 

Grasp a clump of clover with your hand, and push a trowel or shovel blade deep in the plant roots. Use a soil plugger to dig clover on close-cut lawns. 

Add Fertilizer

After you dig up the roots, sow new grass seed, and add a nitrogen-rich fertilizer while the lawn is actively growing to slow weed growth. It is best to apply fertilizer in early spring, and dig clover as soon as you notice it.

Sugar or corn gluten meal also make good natural fertilizers, and the won't infect good plants. Corn gluten deposits dipeptides in the soil, which dries out clover seeds. Sugar works well for low-nitrogen weeds like clover, since it depletes the nutrients level in soil.

Sprinkle five pounds of sugar by hand on every 1000 square feet of clover, or spread twenty pounds of corn gluten meal on every 1000 square feet. If you prefer, spread it with a drop spreader on large lawns. Water the lawn, but don't saturate it, so the sugar stays on the weeds. 

Apply Vinegar

If nothing has worked so far, or it isn't Spring, try white vinegar. Mix a gallon of white vinegar with several drops of liquid dish soap, and pour some of the mixture in a spray bottle. 

Spray the mixture on the infected areas, being careful not to touch good grass. You may prefer to apply vinegar in clover patches away from good plants. Vinegar may be natural, but it could still do harm to grass. Remove dead clover, and replant grass, if needed.

15 February 2018