White Clover

Trifolium repens

General - White Clover (Trifolium repens) is a rapidly growing perennial weed that spreads via stolons.

White Clover is a very common weed in lawns and it easily tolerates close mowing and is at home in a variety of soil conditions.

Leaves - The leaves of White Clover are one of the most recognisable of all lawn weeds. Each leaflets consists of 3 leaflets (trifoliate), with each leaflet having a white band near the base.

Flowers - The flowers are white to pink in colour and are formed in compact rounded clusters. The flowers on White Clover can be seen from May to October.

Roots - White Clover has a fibrous root system, it is a shallow rooting weed which can suffer badly in droughty conditions.

Habitat - White Clover can thrive quite happily in most soil conditions, especially moist soils, that are nutrient deficient (low fertility).

Cultural Control - White clover may be removed by hand where practical, taking care to remove the whole root system. Once it has become widespread hand removal will prove difficult.

Pay attention to good lawn care practices that encourage a healthy sward which will help suppress weeds. Maintain good soil fertility by applying the correct amount of fertiliser throughout the growing season.

Chemical Control - Chemicals should only be used as a last resort and when all other avenues have been exhausted.

If the problem is only localised, consider spot spraying, don't treat the whole lawn for a small area of weeds. (N. B. Spot treatment should not be carried out if the product being used is a weed and feed product, the whole lawn will have to be treated).

When spraying White Clover choose a selective weed killer that contains mecoprop-p or fluroxypyr for the best results. A repeat application will most likely be necessary about 6 weeks later to successfully control the weed.