Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

It’s not a weed; it’s bee food!

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 17, 2020

A clover-filled lawn helps the bees and also the soil. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

White clover adds nectar, nitrogen to lawns

In my lawn, everything’s coming up clover, and that’s a good thing.

Most turf weed killers target clover; its distinctive leaves stand out in a world of single blades. But clover brings some benefits to that turf space that grasses can’t: Food for bees and nitrogen for the soil.

White clover ( Trifolium ) flowers profusely, supplying pollen and nectar to bees. Honeybees love it. White clover actually is a source of popular clover honey. Low-growing Dutch and New Zealand white clover are most popular for lawn use; both varieties blend well with turfgrasses.

Typical turfgrasses provide no such food source to bees. Instead, the monoculture of fescue or bluegrass does little to support beneficial insects. So, clover is a definite plus from the bee perspective.

In addition, clover can thrive in poor soil with less water and tolerates drought better than most turfgrasses. The reason? Clover is a nitrogen-fixing plant, meaning it can supply its own nutrients – and less additional fertilizer is needed.

Clover grows more slowly than turfgrasses, and needs less mowing. It also can grow in shade where grasses often struggle and stays green almost year round.

As a perennial, clover may die back in winter, but re-emerges quickly in spring. One reason clover is so difficult to remove from a lawn: It has deep and hardy roots. That same trait makes it a survivor.

Clover may be a solution for spots where other lawns refuse to grow – or sunny turf spaces, too.

Clover needs less water, less fertilizer, less mowing while helping bees and staying green. That’s not a weed; that’s a useful plant.

And I feel lucky to have a clover-filled lawn.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

gardening Sacramento clover turfgrass soil building bees lawn nitrogen soil

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!