Clover sowing. When to sow clover: choose the right time, understand the nuances. Video: Mulching row spacing with clover

Arrangement of the territory around the house is an important component country life, after all appearance the site is the first thing that its visitors pay attention to. A classic green lawn is often planted, a good alternative to which would be planting clover. Such a lawn will look natural, charming with a thousand globular flowers that immediately catch the eye due to their pleasant appearance.

clover varieties

For good growth crops on the site, you need to know what types of plants are and which ones are best suited for growing on your territory. You can choose plants with white, red, yellow, pink flowers. There are about 300 species of clover in the world, but on the territory of the CIS countries they can be counted no more than 70.

You can plant a shamrock (another name for culture) on lawns, alpine slides and rockeries are decorated with it. Set created ornamental varieties. Lawns are made out mainly by a perennial with a white flower. The plant is undemanding in care, lush, and after complete mowing, the lawn will not deteriorate from the unpleasant appearance of bare stems.

Beautiful pink clover, but this variety requires care. It is distributed in the Caucasus, the Crimean peninsula. Its leaves are ovoid in shape. The acidity of the soil is not important for him, the flowering period is from June to September. The reddish shamrock is listed in the Red Book. Its bushes reach a height of 60 cm, the inflorescences are elongated. bloom different varieties V different time, but most often the plant will be able to please the owners with fluffy balls 2 times per season.

planting clover

Once a plant variety has been selected, it needs to be proper fit Location on. Under natural conditions, there is no care, but the culture feels good without weeding and feeding. The owners of the site will not be burdened either, because the shamrock is very tenacious and unpretentious. To get an even green carpet, the landing site should be sunny, partial shade is also suitable. If cereals used to grow on the site, this will have a good effect on the growth of the trefoil.

Reproduction takes place with the help of seeds. You should take them from the second year of life or use store ones. You can divide large bushes of a plant, but they take root in new places poorly.

So, what is the landing algorithm?

1. It is required to dig up the earth, remove weeds, level.
2. About 300 seeds are needed per 1 m 2. Soak them in water for an hour first. For convenience, you can mix the seeds with soil in a suitable container, then distribute them throughout the territory.
3. Seeds should be covered with a thin, no more than 1 cm, layer of earth.
4. The plot is watered from a hose with weak pressure. It is optimal to use the nozzle to get a fine rain. The soil should be kept moist for about a week after planting in order to properly establish the plant in the ground. Walking on a fresh lawn is not recommended, otherwise in some places the shamrock may grow worse or the sprouts will not appear at all.

After 2 weeks, the first sprouts should appear.

You should not scatter the seeds with your hands, because you won’t be able to do it evenly, marriage will be noticeable in the work. It is not necessary to delay planting, because the seeds need to take root before the onset of a cold pore.

Shamrock bloom can only be seen next year. But it is important to ensure proper care right away, because young shoots are most vulnerable.

plant care

An important condition for the normal growth of any crop is watering. It does not matter what kind of plant is planted on the site. A long absence of water will negatively affect the appearance of the area with the trefoil. Waterlogging will also be fatal, although some varieties do not really pay attention to high content moisture.

The pink shamrock, like the white one, can grow even in close proximity to ground water. Care, which includes watering the plant and mowing the grown stems, should be regular in any case. Once a week, not more often, it should be fed. You don’t need to get carried away with fertilizers, because the shamrock is able to release nitrogen itself.

Seeds should be collected from large brown heads. Then they are dried for about a week under indirect sunbeams and stored in a place closed from access to fresh oxygen until landing. There is no need to worry if other crops grow around the plant. Clover gets along well with "outsiders". In addition, it withstands trampling well, which means that you should not worry and limit children - let them walk right on the site. Shamrock will not lose its beauty with temperature changes.

You need to cut the plant as it grows, and care when planting on the site is reduced only to watering. After treatment with a trimmer, the culture recovers very quickly and blooms even stronger. The site should look neat, clover should not grow. If sprouts appear in nearby areas, it will be difficult to get rid of annoying grass there, so Special attention should be given to finding the plant within its limits.

Top dressing clover

2/3 required amount clover will absorb nitrogen from the air, so it should not be fertilized with such additives. The plant does not grow well on acidic soil, and after wintering it thins considerably. For normal growth for 2-3 years, clover requires phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, molybdenum. In the first year, the plant consumes little fertilizer from the soil, it only takes root. In subsequent years, consumption will be 1.5 times higher.

For acidic soils, liming is required before planting. The plant responds positively to organic fertilizer. The norm is 30 t/ha. If it is necessary to obtain seeds, the trefoil should be fertilized with nitrogen supplements, because the plant may not have enough nitrogen for this.

When planting, water-soluble fertilizers should be applied. It is desirable to use sulfate forms (potassium magnesia, potassium sulfate, etc.). The use of fertilizers containing chlorine is allowed in the fall.

• Shamrock can also grow in drought, but it is better if it is watered once every 5-7 days.
• A special dwarf clover has been bred for lawns. It grows low, it has few foliage and inflorescences.
• If in some places the shamrock has grown weakly after sowing, you should simply annoy it using the usual technology.
• Shamrock flowers are highly attractive to bees. If you have small children, it is better to plant dwarf clover, which has much fewer flowers. In such cases, the lawn should be mowed more often.
• The plant itself will be sown only for 2-3 years, after which it dies. It is necessary to give the soil new seeds, for which you will have to cut the plant after the appearance of ripe seed buds.
• Care in the form of fertilizer is needed in minimum quantity. Sometimes if the soil is rich useful substances, you don't need to fertilize at all.

So, shamrock as a replacement for other grasses on the lawn will look very nice. The plant has all the necessary advantages:

• unpretentiousness;
• pleasant appearance;
• the ability to resist the influence of negative external factors.

This is enough to choose the trefoil as the plant surrounding the dwelling.

Creeping clover - familiar to almost every person living in countries with a temperate climate. Previously, it was used as fodder, and now, due to its appearance, fragrant and, clover has become popular as lawn grass. It is grown on lawns, rockeries and. This article will help you learn how to plant and grow from white clover. You will see his photo, learn the pros and cons of this option, as well as the nuances of choosing and preparing a suitable place.

Biological features

Creeping clover belongs to the genus Clover, the legume family, the Motylkov subfamily. It has the widest range, originally distributed throughout Europe, in Central, Minor and Western Asia, in the Transcaucasus and North Africa.

This is a herbaceous perennial plant with a developed, creeping bare stem, complex trifoliate leaves with small elongated leaves and spherical flower heads collected in panicles. Blooms 2 times per season. Clover fruits are orange and yellow-gray bean pods with 3–4 heart-shaped seeds. Seeds ripen from June to July.
Clover grows best in places with a humid and cool climate and prefers loamy, rich, well-drained, but not stagnant water.

Did you know? Like other legumes, clover enriches the soil with nitrogen, so it is often used as green manure to improve the structure and composition of the soil.

Advantages and disadvantages of such a lawn

Like any other, a clover lawn has its pronounced advantages and disadvantages. No wonder they say that summer residents are divided into those who dream of having clover on the site and those who dream of getting it out of there.

pros

So let's talk about the positive:

• unpretentiousness . White creeping clover is an almost perfect choice for beginners and its easy planting and easy care make it the best option for the first attempts to create a beautiful lawn. Even if you forget about and lawns for the whole summer, nothing bad will happen.
• decorative. Simple shamrocks create a very soft and delicate coating. It will delight you with delicate greenery from May to the end of autumn. The gaps between trees, near fences and buildings, as well as other bald spots on it, can be made more aesthetic.
• wear resistance. You get a dense, long-lasting lawn that quickly recovers from mowing and other "stresses". Children's active games, running, ball games, dog pranks, temperature changes and direct sunlight cannot damage this grass, crushed leaves quickly return to their original appearance.
• Availability. Because the whole line varieties are used in agriculture as fodder or seeds, you can buy seeds much cheaper by contacting the appropriate stores. And if you collect the seeds yourself, it will cost absolutely free. In addition, you can save on feeding and.
• Ability to improve soil. Since clover enriches the soil with nitrogen, it is recommended to use it as a predecessor before planting. In addition, thanks to a powerful root system, it survives well from the site.
• Honey content. With its fragrant flowering, clover will attract, which will pollinate others on the site. Such a fragrant carpet is especially suitable for people who keep an apiary.
• pet food. Clover is an excellent food for, or, hamsters and Guinea pigs will also be grateful for such a treat. This herb is not only tasty, but also healthy.

Did you know? The name Trifolium clover is Latin for "shamrock". An occasional quatrefoil is considered a symbol of good luck. However, there are varieties, such as Good Luck, in which all leaves are quadruple.

Minuses

Often the disadvantages of clover are a continuation of its advantages:

• Aggressiveness. This plant is called creeping for a reason. Not only does it quickly capture new territories, but, thanks to its powerful roots, it is also difficult to get rid of it. If you do not take care of limiting the territory on which the clover was planted, it can capture all the plantings or.
• Fickle aesthetics. Immediately after the bevel, such a lawn does not look very attractive. Although this grass grows quickly, you will have to look at the "wrong side" of the lawn for some time. In addition, fading flower heads also look untidy.
• Honey content. on the site - this is both an advantage and a disadvantage, especially for those who like to walk barefoot on the grass.
• Hygroscopicity. Moisture is well retained under the leafy cover of clover and the lawn dries out for a long time after rain. Therefore, in wet weather, it is susceptible to various fungal diseases. Various, especially grape, and others often gather under its leaves. After cutting, they all become visible, which does not add to the attractiveness of the lawn.
• slipperiness. These plants have a very slippery texture, so it is easy to slip and fall on such a coating, especially on wet slopes.
• Attractiveness to pests. The root tubers of the plant are attractive - they are worm-like larvae of click beetles that cause great harm.
• Frequent haircut. Many of the above shortcomings are solved by frequenting the lawn, so you will have to do it many times.

Use in herbal mixtures

Since clover is an aggressive plant, when grown on open ground you should not combine it with herbs that have a more fragile root system. He simply will not allow such neighbors to develop and will score them in the garden.
In addition, due to its specificity, this plant is not suitable for all types of lawns, therefore, as a lawn grass, it is recommended to use it in mixtures for playgrounds, decorative lawns, when strengthening slopes and slopes, and at the same time, it is unacceptable for parterre and sports lawns. .

To create meadow lawns on relatively dry, infertile soils, the following herbal mixture is recommended: red fescue - 25%, common bent grass - 25%, meadow bluegrass - 25%, creeping clover - 25%.
For sowing slopes and slopes, the following mixture is offered: meadow bluegrass - 30%, meadow fescue - 30%, white bent grass - 30%, creeping clover - 10%.

Location selection

As mentioned earlier, clover, despite its unpretentiousness and stability, has its own specific features, taking them into account, and you should choose a place for its landing.

After choosing a place on the site for white clover, you need to prepare the surface for the lawn, since, despite its unpretentiousness, it is not recommended to plant it in uncultivated land.
The site is preliminarily dug up for half a bayonet of a shovel (15–20 cm), the soil is loosened and sifted, cleared of roots, debris and stones. Then they give a few days for the earth to settle. Seeds must be planted in moist soil, and if the weather is dry, the earth must be

WikiHow is a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. When creating this article, 19 people worked on editing and improving it, including anonymously.

Tired of fighting weeds and unwanted plants? Dreaming of a beautiful front lawn that doesn't require your precious time to maintain? Perhaps it's time to dig up the grass and plant the lawn with a beautiful clover carpet. Clover is a cheap, hardy field plant that is ideal for lawns, especially lawns in a shady area with poor drainage, and other problem areas. The plant survives weeds, grows well in dry soil, returns nitrogen nutrients to the soil and, most importantly, feeds the bees! So don't prune it too soon, or better yet, don't prune it at all!

Steps

Buy clover seeds at your local nursery or lawn care store. 350 rubles will be enough to plant a lawn in the suburbs. The most common variety of clover is the Dutch clover, with small white flowers. Due to the fact that it grows quite low, it is ideal for lawns. (Many people even stop mowing because the flowers just grow shorter.) You can also find red clover, which has flowers ranging from light pink to bright red. But such clover grows longer than white. At the garden center, ask someone what they have to offer and what information they can provide about the plant.

As soon as the ground warms up in spring, level it with a rake. The site should not be perfectly flat, the clover will close all the tubercles and hollows.

• Clover is unpretentious and adapts quickly, so it can be planted almost all year round provided there is no frost. Another time to plant clover is about six weeks before the first frost; before the frost hits, the roots will form and all autumn and winter the plant will provide itself with moisture without your participation.

1. In the cart, mix the seeds with lawn soil or potting mix.(Clover will grow in almost any soil, so any clean soil will do.) Try to plant four seeds for every 3 square centimeters of soil. One of them will sprout and you will have one plant for every three centimeters.

   Spread the mixture evenly on the ground with a spatula. Make sure there are seeds everywhere.

   Go back to where you started planting and cover everything with earth (not mixed with seeds) 1 cm. Level everything in a thin layer, because the clover will not be able to break through a layer of earth more than 1.5 cm.

   Pour gently using the small jet nozzle.(A strong jet of water will wash the seeds out of the ground.) Keep the ground moist for a week (don't let it dry out) and don't walk on it. In about two weeks, you will have two-leaf sprouts everywhere. This will be the beginning perfect lawn from clover.

• Mature clover is drought tolerant, but will grow better if watered at least once a week or more.
• Consider planting a dwarf clover bred specifically for lawns. It grows short, has fewer leaves and fewer flowers which are less attractive to bees. It can be planted in already growing lawns.
• If you don't have the patience, take manual seeder for clover. As a result, the lawn can be uneven. If necessary, annoy clover in separate places, following the instructions described above.
• To kill time, look for the "lucky" clover leaf! There are many stories that say that whoever gets a lucky leaf will find a treasure!
• Soak the seeds in water for an hour before mixing the seeds with soil and planting.

Warnings

• Clover flowers attract bees. This can be a problem if you have small children who play on the lawn, or if someone in your family is allergic to bee stings. The biggest chance of getting bitten is when you run barefoot across the lawn. Mowing the lawn solves the problem, but some flowers will still grow short.
• Clover is a perennial plant, but it does not live long. This means that it will sow itself only two, three years. If you are preventing the plant from seeding (for example, by mowing the lawn when the flowers appear), you will need to replant the lawn.
• Do not fertilize the clover. The plant produces its own nitrogen and does not need yours. Herbicides will kill the plant, so just leave it alone.
• Clover e is very resistant to weight. Therefore, lay out paths of stone or tiles so that people can walk.
• Dutch white clover grows up to 20 cm and does not grow further. If you decide to mow your lawn, keep in mind that cut branches everywhere will create a terrible mess. So it may be better to let the plant just grow.

Clover is a versatile plant that is used as a groundcover or fodder crop, it is an excellent honey plant, as well as green manure for soil enrichment.

In addition, the agricultural technique for growing a crop is extremely simple, you just need to decide: it is best to sow clover in autumn or spring in order to use its versatility to the fullest.

The possibilities of clover and its scope

Clover can be classified as one of the best honey plants, thanks to its rich chemical composition flower heads, the product has excellent medicinal properties. Its honey has a delicate aroma and delicate taste, during crystallization a very dense white mass is formed, long time preserving healing properties. As a source for collecting pollen, clover is best sown. in early spring so that the bees have time to collect nectar this season.

To use clover as an alternative to lawn crops that do not require special care and growing in one place up to 8-10 years, seeds are also best sown in spring:

As a lawn crop, clover is absolutely unpretentious, it is enough to periodically water and trim it so that pests (slugs, for example) do not breed in a humid environment. The first few years of seeding and fertilizing the lawn is not required. A significant drawback of such a lawn is that clover is not resistant to trampling; to preserve the aesthetic appearance of the lawn, paths must be laid along it.

When to sow clover as green manure?

For these purposes, you can sow clover in autumn or spring, the sowing time will depend on the chosen variety: red-flowering clover at the beginning of the growing season is more suitable for low temperatures, it is sown in early spring.

Fixing a large amount of nitrogen in the soil, loosening and structuring the soil, attracting many microorganisms, drowning out the growth of perennial weeds, clover is an excellent green manure. An important advantage of clover over other green manures is that it converts phosphorus compounds into a form that is easily accessible to plants.

It is successfully sown under fruit trees or on other shaded plots as a shade-tolerant plant that does not require frequent digging (when digging, green manure growth is suppressed). Creeping roots, lying to a depth of 50 cm, perfectly strengthen the soil from leaching, so clover is often sown on the slopes of plots.

Knowing some features of the plant, it is easier to decide when to sow clover in autumn or spring - with most useful for soil. In order for the return from it to be more complete, clover needs to grow for at least 4 months, so spring planting is not used in areas for early vegetables. In late spring, clover is sown on those beds that will not be planted until the end of summer. Plots of land will at the same time be protected from erosion and saturate the nutrient soil layer with nitrogen if the mowed shoots are left directly on the beds for rotting 2-3 weeks before planting the main crop.

If it is necessary to fertilize the site for early crops, clover is planted in early autumn and allowed to go uncut into the winter.

Having decided to use clover as green manure on his site, the gardener must take into account that this is a perennial plant, his most high yield and the greatest return of nitrogen is observed in the second year of growth. The period for mowing is before flowering, then mineral substances are maximally concentrated in the green mass of plants.

How to sow clover?

There is no need for special site preparation, clover can adapt to any soil, the main work carried out before planting:

Mixing seeds with dry sand or light loose humus in a ratio of 1: 1 for more even distribution.

After a few days, the first shoots will begin to appear, they need to be watered often, but moderately, the young clover does not tolerate stagnant water.

The most high-yielding clover, which gives several harvests of juicy green mass - which has a red flower, the white-flowered clover has a minimal green mass yield, but it does not have such an aggressive root system, its growth is easier to control.

An example of spring planting of clover on VIDEO

The gardener tells how and when to plant clover in the spring:

Clover white creeping planting and care photo

Under natural conditions, white clover feels great without weeding and top dressing. At home, plant care is minimal, it is hardy, but in order to decorative look kept as long as possible, you still need to know something about his preferences.

Before sowing any plant, including clover, you need to choose a place. Better conditions for him, the sun last resort- partial shade, and if possible, sow it where you were cereal crops. It grows well on loamy and sandy soils, neutral or slightly acidic. Next to tall and dense grasses he feels bad, they oppress him.

First, the site must be dug up and leveled so that there are as few lumps of earth as possible. This will destroy the weeds and fill the ground with the air necessary for the growth and development of plants.

Seeds are taken at the rate of 320 seeds per 1 square meter of land. Before sowing, they are soaked for an hour. Sowing by hand so that the seeds are evenly scattered on the ground is difficult, especially for beginners. For even distribution of seeds, it is recommended to mix them with soil in a separate container (in a wheelbarrow, barrel or large box), after which the mixture is scattered evenly over the entire area of ​​​​the site. There is no need to sprinkle the seeds with a thick layer of earth, they will not germinate well, one centimeter is enough.

It is necessary to water the future lawn carefully, not with a hose, but with a watering can, with a small nozzle. Humidity should be moderate, not excessive, otherwise the seeds may rot. It is impossible to stomp where clover is sown. At proper care sprouts will appear in two weeks.

In the first year, flowering should not be expected, it will appear only the next year. Especially capricious young clover, what kind of care does he need?

The most important thing is proper watering. It is important not to overdo it and not dry the lawn. It is not recommended to sow clover where groundwater is close to the surface. One watering per week is enough, it should be moderate. If there is excess moisture in your area, plant not a white clover, but a pink one. Care includes weed control and the timely removal of dry faded heads from the lawn.

The plant is a source of nitrogen, so fertilizers must be treated with care. If cereals grow next to clover, it can drown them out. So that the plants do not die, cereals need to be fed in the spring mineral fertilizers.

Information for beginners:

• Although clover is considered a perennial, its life is not long, in the third year a re-planting is needed. It is important not to be late with it, calculate so that the seeds germinate not in the fall, and not even in August, otherwise the cold will destroy the unrooted plants.

Pros and cons of white lawn

A white clover lawn is a great alternative to the classic green. The emerald perennial will quickly fill in unwanted bald spots on the site and will advantageously emphasize brighter shrubs and trees. He can unobtrusively focus on flowers, especially if they are poppies or lupins.

Adults and children can stomp on the lawn, dogs can run and play on it. It will not be affected by temperature fluctuations. Oatmeal and mint, for example, need more moisture, and lawn grass does not always survive in the sun, so a “white foam carpet” is the best solution.

To make white clover look spectacular, it is recommended to cut it as it grows. In this case, the lawn mower should be abandoned, it is better to use a trimmer. Don't worry, it will grow back quickly, and it will bloom even more beautifully, and its green decoration will last until late autumn.

The lawn can grow rapidly due to creeping rooting shoots, and this is not always happy. It will not be easy to “evict” a neighbor from nearby beds and neighboring flower beds, in which case he will change his status from decorative ornament weed plot and need help chemicals. Too frequent walks on clover can spoil its aesthetic appearance; weeds can only be fought manually. As you know, the honey plant always attracts insects, and, hiding in the grass, they can sting if they are accidentally stepped on without seeing them. Here, perhaps, are all its significant shortcomings.

Frequent and regular care can cause difficulties, especially if the owner of the site is a pensioner or very busy man. Sowing clover is not recommended if the owner of the site or members of his family have allergic reactions to insect bites.