More than Luck: Why You Should Add Clover to Your Lawn Grass

Why is adding clover to my lawn a good idea? Adding clover to your lawn is beneficial because it acts as a natural fertilizer through nitrogen fixation, keeping your grass healthier and greener. It also helps the lawn stay green longer during dry periods, tolerates poor soil conditions better than traditional grasses, and is resistant to dog urine and many common pests and diseases.

Yes, you read that right. I want you to add clover to your grass this year whether you’re establishing a new lawn or already have an existing lawn. Now before you start sending me angry emails, let me explain. Prior to the 1950s, clover was a valued and accepted component of most grass seed mixes for lawns. It’s only been since the development of herbicides that society has thrown this beneficial legume under the bus. Somewhere along the way, we became convinced that clover was a weed worthy of eradication. This is unfortunate. There are numerous benefits to a grass/clover lawn, and it’s time we invited this little three (or four)-leaved helper back into our yards.

Reintroducing Clover to the Lawn

The campaign against clover began when herbicides that target broadleaf plants became widely available, leading to the perception that a “perfect” lawn was a uniform stretch of turfgrass alone. However, this uniformity often requires constant maintenance, chemical applications, and extensive watering. Reintroducing clover is a move towards a more sustainable and low-maintenance approach to lawn care. Many people are now finding that the benefits of a grass-clover mix far outweigh the aesthetic demands of a chemically-maintained, single-species lawn. This blend creates a resilient, healthy ecosystem right in your backyard, promoting biodiversity and reducing your reliance on synthetic products.

Clover as a Natural Fertilizer Source

Natural Source of Fertilizer

Perhaps the biggest benefit of adding clover to your lawn is the fertility factor. Clover is a natural source of fertilizer and provides nutrients to the grass around it. In a process known as nitrogen fixation, clovers and other legumes are able to take unusable nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a usable form of nitrogen called ammonium. As a result, grass intermixed with clover is healthier, greener and more vigorous than grass alone. This same process can also be applied to the pasture. White clover, red clover and alsike clover can fix hundreds of pounds of nitrogen per acre, significantly reducing fertilizer costs for farmers and ranchers. This reduction in the need for synthetic nitrogen is a major advantage for both the environment and your wallet. For a deeper dive into the science of how legumes fix nitrogen, you can consult resources like the USDA Agricultural Research Service on Nitrogen Fixation.

How Clover Improves Lawn Aesthetics

Helps Keep Lawn Green

In many regions clover is fairly drought-tolerant when added to a traditional lawn. It has longer roots than most lawn grasses, enabling it to access water held deeper in the soil. Clover will also help your lawn look greener longer. It greens-up quicker than grass in the early spring, and stays greener longer into the fall and winter. In fact, I’ve seen areas where snow has been pushed off a lawn in the winter and the clover is still green. In southern areas of the United States, clover will often remain green year-round. This is especially beneficial for homeowners looking to avoid the wintertime brown of their warm-season lawn grass. The resilience of clover means you’ll spend less time and resources trying to maintain a vibrant color, especially during the challenging transition periods of the year.

Beyond its color-retention capabilities, clover is also a low-growing plant that blends seamlessly with most turfgrasses, creating a lush, dense look that discourages the growth of other weeds. This makes it an excellent choice for a sustainable lawn alternative. Its ability to thrive in varying conditions means that patchy, brown spots become far less common.

Clover Tolerance and Resistance

Tolerates Poor Soil, Pests, Diseases and Dog Urine

Clover is not as picky as grass when it comes to soil types. It tolerates a wide variety of conditions including poor-draining soils and low quality soils exposed by new construction. Clover also tolerates compacted soil better than lawn grasses. When it comes to weeds, diseases and pests, clover/grass lawns have the advantage as well. Clover can help out-compete weeds and is resistant to most diseases and pests, especially chinch bugs and white grubs. Partially shaded areas are also not a problem for clover. Need any more reasons why you should mix clover into your lawn? Here’s one for pet owners—clover is unaffected by dog urine, preventing those unsightly brown burn spots that plague traditional lawns. This superior resilience makes it an ideal addition for any high-traffic or problem areas in your yard.

Support for Pollinators and Ecologic Benefits

Helps Beneficial Pollinators

Another overlooked benefit of clover has to do with our pollinators, especially honey bees. With a growing concern over mass die-offs, colony collapse disorder and other problems plaguing honey bee populations lately, it’s important we do everything possible to make their lives a little easier. Clover blossoms are a major forage source for honey bees and other pollinators. If you’re allergic to bee stings or have children that spend a lot of time outdoors, simply mow the clover blossoms off to keep bees away. The presence of clover in your lawn turns a typical mono-culture into a vibrant, small-scale habitat, supporting the essential work of these insects. For more information on creating a pollinator-friendly garden, check out resources from institutions like Cornell University’s Pollinator Network.

It’s time we end the war on clover, one yard at a time. This year, consider adding clover to your lawn and see how many neighbors you can convert along the way. This simple change not only simplifies your lawn care routine but also contributes to a healthier local environment.