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naturedoc

Clover patches in my lawn

naturedoc
14 years ago

So I have lots of clover in my lawn, as well as lots of dandelions. I've heard that if this is the case, nitrogen is necessary, and I can't remember if the lawn needs to be acidified or made more alkaline. But I was planning on mowing the lawn and leaving the clippings on the lawn this year to provide more nitrogen. I'm also thinking about adding compost and some organic fertilizer to the lawn. Will this help to get rid of the clover, or should I engage in more powerful measures?

Comments (8)

  • billhill
    14 years ago

    Hit it with weed be gone type product labeled for clover. Dandelions or Clover do not really provide soil analysis. Nitrogen replenishment is always necessary when growing most lawns. Get a professional soil test from your county extension service or other reliable source if you are going to use chemical fertilizers. Do leave the clippings, compost is good but is not a food source for the grass. If you feed your lawn with organic fertilizer than feed it heavily five or six time the first year.
    Bill Hill

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dandelions and Broadleaf Weeds

  • denverdude
    14 years ago

    Weed B Gone usually doesn't get total control of clover and you might have oxalis - does it have little yellow flowers or white ones? I have good luck with Speedzone. It nukes clover and dandelion without harming my turf. Here is a link to help you find it:
    http://www.pbigordon.com/homefarm/lawncare_weed.php

    There are many local places that manufacture organic fertilizer in Colorado. A-1, Alpha-1, Rocky Mountain BioSol - I have seen all of these products in garden stores. I pick up Sustane natural fertilizer from the John Deere Landscapes in Denver. Works great. Good luck.

  • deadpaisly
    14 years ago

    Hello Looking for some help I guess.
    My lawn looks terrible with a lot of dead grass still in it as all the surrounding houses look nice.
    History>
    Lawn is Kentucky Blue sod laid in summer 2007.
    Usually cut 3' in height during season and bag the clippings.
    Regular Fertilized
    End of last year in the fall I used the remainder of the turf Builder I had instead of Winterizer.
    Didn't cut any shorter at my last cut of the fall season.
    Now I have mostly dead grass.
    To top things off voles made a huge mess in the parkway and all around the kids swingset.

    I will be getting a soil test soon to hopefully figure out some problems. Just had aerated to help get rid of the dead stuff and Fertilized.

    It is by far the worst looking lawn on the block. (comparing to other sodded areas)
    Any ideas what I did wrong?? See pic link below. The two other yards in pic are fescue grown on locatin from seed.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Yard

  • billhill
    14 years ago

    Welcome to Gardenweb forums deadpaisly. It might have been more effective if you started a new post instead of tagging on to this one. No problem though. Please give your location. Is this a recent photo? Most Kentucky bluegrass lawns have recovered from winter dormancy. Are you in a colder climate (Canada perhaps). Kentucky bluegrass is a little slower to green up in the Spring than fescue or rye grass lawns. It is helpful to fertilize KBG heavy in the fall and once after the topgrowth has stopped. Please give your location and as much information as you can about this lawn. Bill Hill

  • billhill
    14 years ago

    Here is the pic.

  • naturedoc
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Denverdude, I don't see any flowers on the clover yet. It may have been white flowers last year, but I can't say for sure. The thing that also concerns me about the clover is that I'd say it's about 50% of one half of the front lawn (the sidewalk divides it in half), so if I were to kill off the clover, it might look pretty bad for a while.

    Second question: which should go on the grass first, compost or fertilizer?

  • jeannie7
    14 years ago

    Clover cannot take shade...so let your grass, what grass there is, grow high and shade the clover out....or
    use a broadleafed weed killer. Clover is like any other weed, it reacts to weed killer.

    To kill the weeds along with the clover, use the weed killer---water your lawn well an hour before using the weed killer.

  • naturedoc
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Jeannie7, funny you say that...there's clover ALL OVER that half of the lawn that isn't shaded by the huge tree on our property. That area gets absolutely no shade, just direct sun. It all makes sense now.

    We have a lawn service that comes once a week to mow the lawn, typically. Would it be okay to have them cut the lawn and leave the clippings on every other week? Or is that just courting disaster of some sort I can't foresee?