White Clover

What is it?

The White/Dutch Clover, also known as Trifolium Repens, is a common perennial throughout the UK which can be a bit of a handful. Once the weed starts to establish itself it will generally fight for lawn real estate and light and it usually ends up winning. This causes wanted plants and grass to be ousted due to lack of nutrients as they are greedily being taken by the clover. This weed is also a bit of a pain to remove as it can take quite a bit of punishment from trampling and cutting. Visually, the weed is unique due to its tear shaped leaf with a white flower head which can attract bees.

When do they flower?

June - September

Treatment and Control

Culturally

The White/Dutch Clover can be hand weeded however it is nigh on impossible to remove with this method once it has established itself within turf. If you do chose this method, be sure to pull out as much of the root system as possible to prevent regrowth.

Chemically

There are different weed killers available on the market today, it does just depend on how heavily affected your garden is. We thought we’d make it slightly easier and provide a bit of advice for small areas (where you may have the odd unsightly weed) and larger areas (where it’s an overgrown area, vastly populated by the overpowering little blighters).

Small Areas: Glyphosate, applied sparingly with spray (be wary of overspray), sponge or paint brush.
Large Areas: Use selective weed killer such as Verdone Extra as it targets the weed, not the lawn.

Did you know?

• That once the flower have been dried it can be used for making bread and was do so in Ireland during famines.
• Clovers were used by Greeks in garlands.
• Approximately, there are around 10,000 three-leaf clovers to one four-leaf clover. There are even instances of five-leaf clovers, which in Ireland are known as a rose-leaf clover.