Looking out across your lawn you may notice bunches of white flowers with bees buzzing around. Get closer and you’ll see the three leaves of the clover plant. While some may think clover in your lawn is an outbreak of weeds, this stubborn plant can also be beneficial.

Why Clover in Your Lawn is Lucky

Okay, so it may only have three leaves, not four, but clover still has certain characteristics that you want in a plant:

• Adds nitrogen to soil and promotes grass growth.
• Wide clover leaves shade the soil, helping to prevent the spread of other weeds.
• Microclover—which is greener than white clover—spreads more evenly across the lawn, creating the same green look with less weeds. A lawn with microclover will also need less fertilizer and water.

Why Clover is Unlucky & How to Treat

Technically, clover is a weed, and the small white flowers on some types of clover can mess with the serene green of a lawn. The white flowers also attract bees, which could cause problems if you have pets and children running around in your yard. There are a few ways to get rid of clover:

• Fertilizer. Clover thrives in low-nitrogen environments because it can make its own. Using a weed-and-feed formula can help keep the nitrogen levels where it’s good for the grass, but not for clover.
• Hand-weed. As soon as you see the weed, loosen the soil around the base of the plants and remove as much of the root as you can.
• Heat. Cover large patches of clover with a plastic sheet to deprive it of the sunlight and oxygen it needs to grow. Careful not to cover the healthy grass, because that will die under these hot conditions as well.
• Natural/Chemical Herbicide. Make a spray solution of vinegar and dish soap to spot treat the clover leaves. You can also buy chemical solutions that work in the lawn to limit the damage to surrounding grass.

Whether you want to try your luck with clover in your lawn or find ways to get rid of it, the lawn specialists at Cardinal Lawns can answer your questions about the best ways to go about this weed.