Could be either one, depending on your point of view.

Some add it to their lawns on purpose.

Here is a link that might be useful: benefits of white clover

Is the 'clover' really clover, or Oxalis? We sometimes get questions about 'clover' which turns out to be Oxalis.

Depends on its location. In my garden beds, I rip it out, but in the lawn I like it.

its all thru my meadow ... which is what i call grass on a former horse pasture ...

the rabbits eat it ... along with all the other 'wildflowers' [and i use the term loosely ... lol]...

and ignore the rest of my garden..

go figure...

ken

I like clover in the lawn too. It's pretty, soft and green, and pollinators love the flowers.

I read years ago in some old-time gardening book (Jerry Baker maybe?) that it's supposed to be a good companion to turf grass and used to be included in some grass seed. One reason is because clover fixes nitrogen, which benefits the turf grass. Now the chemical companies have brainwashed people into thinking it's a weed in the lawn and that they should dump chemicals all over the lawn to get rid of it.

The drawbacks of it, which are minor in my experience, is that it spreads a little into the garden beds, and walking barefoot while it's flowering could be a hazard!

There are a few ornamental clovers you can purchase for your garden. I had the following on my spring wish list, but it got cut before I placed my Bluestone order. See below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clover

Love it in my lawn and dig it out in the flowerbeds.

It's a weed to me. But a fairly innocuous one. I don't have any, but if I did, I would probably let it be. Monoculture lawns are a fun hobby to pursue in some parts of the country, but here we are forced to grow cool season grass in oppressively hot summers which demands ridiculous amounts of water not to mention the nutrient and anti-grub demands of fescue, so I prefer to exert my energy on my garden and not the lawn.

I'd still like to know if everyone is talking about the same plant, or family of plants. There have been discussions at cross purposes here before because of the confusion with Oxalis. But the OP has not come back to clarify.

I don't mind it. Which is good because it took over about 1/4 of my yard! I don't like it in my gardens though. Ken, you got me thinking that I might want a rabbit - as a pet, not to get rid of my clover. I think the kids would love one (me too).

Flora, I think people are talking about white clover, Trifolium repens. Short, white flowers. I bought 5 lbs (2.25 kg) of seed a few year back and once in awhile, sow some into sparser areas of the lawn.

Red clover T. pratense which grows a lot taller and has pretty pink flowers is a major component in the pasture mix a local farmer uses for their free range organic livestock projects (one of which happens to be across the street). The farmer said the chickens eat the clover and it has lots of protein!

Mistacott, pursuit of the perfect, emerald green, monoculture lawn is a local pursuit by some property owners here as well. It's appalling to me, the amount of precious resources such as water and fossil fuel, that are dedicated to this non-essential use.

Flora- I don't think it's oxalis (which could easily undergo the same debate) I wonder if this was supposed to be a lawn forum posting.... Who knows, the OP may never return!

The back lawn, which I rarely fertilize, has large clover patches. I'll see if I can take a picture since its a bit funny how the clover and its nitrogen fixing produce darker green patches of lawn while the non clover areas look a little yellowish.

Used to be people deliberately planted clover lawns, but it went out of fashion about a half century ago. It has sneaked back into my country lawn, until now it's almost pure clover again. Personally, I like it. The honey bees love it, and the grandkids spend hours hunting for 4-leaf clovers. I have both the red clover, the blooms of which I harvest and dry for clover teas, and the white clover. Besides, it smells good!

Sandy

oh.. i forgot ...

clover in the lawn flowers .. and when it does... there are bees everywhere ... [no lack of them in the country] ...

and if children w/o shoes step on them... there will be hell to pay ... [now my kids have laptops.. and dont play outside anymore...]

the upside of it.. on my sand.. its one of the plants.. unlike grass.. that does not go summer dormant ... one might say.. evergreen ...

ken