There's a lot of buzz this week about clover fields. I don't quite understand why, especially since it's January, unless everyone on Long Island dilligently planted it as a winter cover crop.
Anyway, since so many of you appear to be interested, I feel obligated to write about the subject. After all, I'm here to provide advice.
Back in the 1950s, white clover was widely used in lawns -- deliberately. It held up nicely during heat waves and droughts. Since then, however, its use has diminished and now it's widely considered a weed in the lawn.
According to the Cornell Cooperative Extension, fields of clover are making a comeback in the northeast, but mostly in rural areas. But because so many of you are talking about putting an end to cloverfields, I'm assuming it's problematic.
Personally, I love when the little white flowers make an appearance in my lawn each spring. They're pretty and they smell delicious when I walk past them. But they can be problematic, as they attract lots of bees to the area and make a lawn look a bit wild.
For those who aren't as inamoured with them as I, the ending is simple: In beds and borders, simply pull them out by hand and be sure to apply mulch to discourange their return. In lawns, overseeding works well by providing a thick, lush lawn that will choke out clover, as well as other weeds. Fertilizing with with one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn will promote the growth of grass but not the clover. And watch the phosphorus. Too much will encourage clover to grow rampant.
If all else fails, cloverfields are easily ended with conventional broadleaf herbicides.
