Clovers can be pretty invasive if you give them the chance, but you can also control them with the methods in this article. You can choose to eliminate them altogether, or just make sure that they don’t outperform the grass.
Having said that, they can benefit your lawn without taking over. The roots have bacteria that enriches the soil, which helps the grass out as well. You won’t need to fertilize the lawn as much if there are some clovers doing the job for you.
Clovers also block out the sun with their flat leaves, preventing other weeds from growing in their early stages.
However, if they’re getting out of control or you just don’t like the look of them in your garden, we don’t blame you for wanting to vanquish them.
They definitely detract from the stunning appearance of a perfectly cut lawn. Not only that, they can also be quite aggressive and take over quickly. They aren’t very durable, so if they take over in an area where people walk, they’ll break and the ground will be exposed quickly.
It’s important to note that there isn’t one solution that will instantly get rid of all the clovers and keep them away. But if you work a few of these methods into your garden care routine, you’ll be able to control the situation far better.
Here are the best ways of getting rid of clovers in your lawn.
Methods That Won’t Kill Grass
Use these techniques if you want to treat your entire lawn without damaging it. These are ideal solutions for people who want to eliminate clovers before they turn into massive clusters. You’ll also decrease the amount of new clovers that sprout up.
Physical Removal
Before we get into the more severe methods, if you only have a small patch of clovers in a few areas, you might just want to remove them by hand or with a small three-prong fork.
Try to remove all the roots to prevent them from sprouting up again. The presence of clovers in your lawn will reduce every time you remove them.
As you pluck the clovers out, immediately put them into a plastic bag or some sort of container so that you don’t spread any seeds around the rest of the lawn.
If there are some really thick patches, use the boiling water method further below to kill them first. It will make it easier to remove them that way.
Organic Fertilizer
Organic fertilizer works well on lawns because it feeds the grass steadily over time. So you won’t have to apply it as often. It also feeds the soil, which most synthetic fertilizers don’t do.
Some synthetic fertilizers need to be reapplied often and can even make the environment more favourable to weeds than grass.
Fertilize your lawn well in spring and fall with organic fertilizer to give the grass everything it needs to overpower any clovers.
A.D.I.O.S
A.D.I.O.S Selective Organic Weed Control can take care of clovers and several other weeds by causing them to dehydrate rapidly after coming into contact with their roots. 44lb can treat 7,000 sq ft of lawn.
This organic fertilizer is non-toxic, odorless, and can be used safely on lawns and flower beds.
Don’t apply to the lawn if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
To assist your grass with hydration, water it well 24 hours before you apply this fertilizer.
Don’t water it again within 24 hours of applying A.D.I.O.S or you’ll mitigate the effects of the product. Check the weather to make sure there’s no rain forecasted for the next 1 or 2 days.
24 to 48 hours after you’ve applied the A.D.I.O.S, water the grass again to quench its thirst. The clovers should already be deprived of water content and watering the grass won’t reverse the effects of the A.D.I.O.S at this point.
This fertilizer is safe to use around children, pets, and bodies of water. This makes it ideal for areas where energetic and inquisitive children and pets are present.
As a bonus, you’ll also control dandelion, ground ivy, lambsquarters, yellow mustard, and other broadleaf weeds commonly found in grass.
Tenacity
Tenacity is a herbicide that controls over 46 broadleaf weeds and grass species, including clovers. It won’t kill your grass unless you apply it incorrectly. Tenacity uses mesotrione, a naturally occurring compound, to prevent photosynthesis in plants with broad leaves.
You’ll notice the clovers turning white and dying within two to three weeks after spraying the Tenacity on them.
Tenacity is powerful, you need to dilute it with water to balance it out and make it easier to apply to your lawn. You must also add some surfactant to the mix as per the instructions below, or on the label. This will help the Tenacity stick to the leaves of the clovers and take effect. The last ingredient you’ll need is dye to make it easier to see where you’ve sprayed. Over spraying will kill the grass.
This is how we recommend you mix a two gallon formula:
- Put 2 gallons of water into your pressure sprayer.
- Add 1 teaspoon of Tenacity to the water.
- Add 3 teaspoons of surfactant.
- Add 4 teaspoons of dye.
- Mix the formula.
For the teaspoon measurements, use the syringe included with your Tenacity purchase, teaspoon measurements are on the side of the syringe.
- Use a fine spray nozzle on your sprayer to get as many droplets of the mixture onto the leaves as possible.
- Don’t spray the same areas twice or you might kill the grass as well. Use the coloring that you added to see where you’ve been and work your way from one side of the yard to the other.
- Don’t get it on any flowers or it will damage them.
The lawn should be safe for children and pets to return to after about 6 hours. Read all the information in the pamphlet, including the safety section. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands while handling Tenacity.
Scotts Liquid Turf Builder Weed Control
This is a fertilizer that will give your grass a boost of nitrogen and stop the growth of the clovers and other weeds. We recommend a second dose after three to four weeks for persistent areas.
Shake the bottle before connecting your hose pipe. If the hose has been baking in the sun and is very hot, let all that hot water run out first. Then connect it to the bottle and turn on the tap. Flip the switch to “ON” on the bottle. Spray the lawn down and cover 6,000 sq. ft with a 32 fl oz bottle.
Young, weak weeds will curl up and die within days, while older and stronger weeds will need a second dose after 3 to 4 weeks. This especially applies to clovers. You might notice dandelions and other weeds dying after just one week, but clovers will take 3 to 4 weeks to eradicate.
Scotts Liquid Turf Builder also kills buckhorn, chickweed, ground ivy, henbit, knotweed, plantain, poison ivy, ragweed, and spurge.
- Wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants while using this fertilizer.
- Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.
- Don’t use the product if there are children or pets in the area.
- If there’s any wind, stand so that it blows the chemicals away from your body.
- Take a shower and rinse your clothes after applying the fertilizer.
20 Mule Team Borax
Yes, the all-natural laundry detergent. The boric acid in Borax kills clovers by overloading them with boron, a healthy mineral in moderation. With the correct strength of 3.5 cups of Borax to 1 gallon of water, it shouldn’t kill the grass around the clovers.
With the above mixture in a spray bottle, spray the solution onto the clovers. They should die within 10 days. Remove the dried up remains and repeat the process as required.
Don’t increase the strength of the Borax in the water or you’ll kill the grass as well.
If you find the clovers aren’t dying after 10 days, you may have soil that is absorbing the acid before it can kill the clover. In that case, you must apply one of the other methods in this article.
Methods To Apply To The Clovers Only (Kills any vegetation)
These techniques are more suited to you if you have patches of clovers that are taking over an area. The plan is to kill the clovers along with any other plants around them. The grass will grow back quickly with the clovers out of the way.
Boiling Water
This is an easy and cost effective way of killing any clusters of weeds.
- Boil a full kettle of water. You need enough to get to the roots.
- Walk carefully with the kettle to the clovers you want to kill.
- Pour the hot water over the clovers. It’s best not to pour the water while standing, rather pour it as close to the clovers as possible for maximum heat and minimum risk of burning yourself.
The boiling water will scald the leaves, stems, and roots which should kill them quickly. Repeat the process weekly if you see any new clovers popping up. The boiling water will also kill any clover seeds that are in the soil, so you shouldn’t see many coming up in the same area. Sometimes, if the ground is very cold, some clover seeds may survive, but the plant will always die when burnt with water.
Boiling water will kill any plant, including grass. So if there’s grass around the clovers, it will also die, but the good news is, it will easily grow back again because there’s no poison left behind. The clovers won’t grow back as easily as the grass because there shouldn’t be any clovers around to spread any seeds.
This is the best method to kill any weed, leaving no nasty substances behind. Just be careful not to burn any plants you plan on keeping around the clovers. Also, walk carefully with that kettle because it’s something you don’t normally do.
Dry Them Out With Vinegar
To kill specific patches of clovers, spray them with vinegar to dry the leaves out.
- Mix the vinegar with water in equal proportions. 1:1
- Add 1 drop of dish soap for every 500ml of vinegar-water. This will act as a surfactant to make the vinegar stick to the clover leaves.
- Spray the patches of clovers every few days until they dry out and die.
Vinegar can damage the grass, so don’t coat your lawn with this mixture. Only use it to kill specific patches of clovers.
How To Keep Clovers Away
Now that you’ve eradicated the clovers on your lawn, you need to keep them away. Here are some of the most effective methods in doing so.
Corn Gluten Meal
You can buy special corn gluten meal at your garden store that you can spread over your grass to stop the root formation of clovers. This is not the same type of cornmeal that we eat.
You can reduce weed growth by around 70% if you distribute 25 pounds of corn gluten meal over 1,000 sq ft of lawn.
Cover them with grass
Clovers grow best when grass is very short, less than 3 inches in height. Check your lawn mower cutting height and make sure it’s 3 inches or more if you want to avoid clovers. This doesn’t just hide them away, it creates an environment that’s not conducive to clover growth.
Use nitrogen rich fertilizers
Clovers don’t do well in nitrogen rich environments while your grass does. Organic, slow-release fertilizers are our recommendation as previously discussed in the article.
Fertilize in spring and fall
Using fertilizer in the spring and in the fall is effective against clovers because you are giving the grass the advantage with the nitrogen. Fertilizing during these seasons is effective because it’s the two seasons where the grass goes through the most amount of change.