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Ask the Pit: Killing clover?

DoubleDeacNC

DoubleDeacNC

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Pit,

I just rented a house in Ardmore and with any luck I'll be there for more than a year. The front yard is pretty clover-ridden. Does anyone have any specific recommendations for removing the clover? I've Googled it, but I'm talking real recommendations for some type of awesome or potentially-toxic chemical that will remove it. And, after you've taught me how to kill it, what's the best way to grow grass? I have a friend who's trying to kill clover and grow grass in his home nearby, and it's just not happening (he's tried Round-Up to kill it, and then just kind of tilled up the yard and it hasn't come back). I don't want to make his same mistakes, so any specific advice would be appreciated.
 
Ha, I'm renting in Ardmore and have the same problem, but I defs don't care enough to fix it.
 
Psh, just mow over it, and if you're saying you never have grass get taller, that's a #win when you're renting.
 
Unless it's going to be a super long term rental, I just don't see how the costs of fixing the yard is going to be worth what you get out of it.
 
Yeah, I rent here in Charlotte and the yard is in mediocre shape at best, but I'm not going to screw around with it.

If you are really, REALLY serious about it, and what is in your yard is actually mostly clover (and not other stuff like crabgrass mixed in with it) the best way to deal with it is to aerate the lawn in the fall and heavily overseed it. Then make sure you follow a consistent fertilizer schedule every other month based on the PH of your soil. You may need to check the PH level and lime the yard if it is too acidic.

If you're going to be in it for the long haul, as in around 3 years, then leave the clover alone, overseed the yard and keep the fertilizer going and the grass will take over and the clover will fade out. Clover is often referred to as "martyr weed" as it forms nitrates in the soil and helps fertilize grass. Once the nitrogen level gets too high in the soil, the clover will begin to die off on its own.

The reason I say be careful about what else is in the yard though is because if there are lots of other weeds and crabgrass, you'll fertilize them, the clover will die out and you'll have a yard full of nothing but weeds and crabgrass.

Now if you really want to put in the effort (and money) and you want a shorter turnaround time, wait until late summer/early fall (when the high temps are around 80 degrees or so) then spray round up on the whole yard, kill it all off down to the dirt, aerate it and reseed it and fertilize it. You'll then need to water in the seed and keep the yard watered every day until the seedlings emerge. Fastest germination is going to be something like bluegrass, but you don't want to seed the whole lawn with that because next year when it gets hot that won't do so well. You'll probably want to go with something like tall fescue.

So with all that said, you see why my advice is leave the clover alone if you're renting? :)
 
I battled this last year in my front yard. I had to have the the entire yard killed, soil dug up, replaced and grass planted, basically started from scratch. Now it looks great, but the entire backyard is clover. I can't do anything with it because of the dog, and it takes major weed killers to get rid of that shit. If your renting, there is no quick, cheap fix. It's a bitch.

Eta: didn't see Raleigh's post. It sounds like he knows what he's talking about and is spot on.
 
We rent and would love if our landscaping looked better, but its just not worth the cost short term. Just my two cents.
 
tsywake said:
Click to expand...

25yuswsw28295.gif
 
How many of us would swap our grass for a yard you don't even have to mow, particularly one you don't have a long-term stake in?
 
Much of my Ardmore front yard is clover, but the flowers grow high enough that I will need to keep it mowed. I just made a deal to buy a lawn mower so I will be able to tend to that soon. Since I own the house, I would like the yard to have more grass, but I'm going to live with the clover for now. Good luck with your yard!

this is sort of what it looks like at the moment:
4282147-343074-many-white-clover-flowers.jpg
 
WinkinDeac said:
How many of us would swap our grass for a yard you don't even have to mow, particularly one you don't have a long-term stake in?
Click to expand...

Very much in, considering it takes me between 4 and 6 hours to mow my entire yard depending on the length of the grass. I'm seriously contemplating planting the entire thing with hardwoods.
 
RollTheQuad06 said:
Much of my Ardmore front yard is clover, but the flowers grow high enough that I will need to keep it mowed. I just made a deal to buy a lawn mower so I will be able to tend to that soon. Since I own the house, I would like the yard to have more grass, but I'm going to live with the clover for now. Good luck with your yard!

this is sort of what it looks like at the moment:
4282147-343074-many-white-clover-flowers.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm confident that this is what a majority of lawns in Forsyth county look like. More yards on my street than not (including mine) look like this.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I'm confident that this is what a majority of lawns in Forsyth county look like. More yards on my street than not (including mine) look like this.
Click to expand...

my neighbors on either side have nice grass lawns. I'm jealous.

I should correct myself - that photo would look like my lawn if it was also covered in fallen magnolia leaves.

715610c0e96533ae7080cd3ee7abea29.jpg
 
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