Rachel Southin, Author at All Turf Solutions

Clover is a very common lawn weed, it isn’t one of the nastiest of weeds to deal with but can affect your lawn health and is usually a great indicator that your lawn is lacking in nutrients. Clover is a very opportunistic weed.

Clover is a sign that your lawn is underfed, overwatered or has been mown too short. All of these issues can be sorted easily by practising proper lawn care.

Types of Clover

White clover – most common of all lover types. It has white to pink florets.
Red clover – this is taller and bushier than the white clover, it has reddish in colour florets.
Strawberry clover – appearance is extremely similar to white clover, but has smaller pink florets.

Understanding Clover in Lawn

Clover is a legume plant, much like Lucerne, alfalfa or beans. They draw nitrogen from the air and store it within it’s roots. Clover favours unhealhy, poorly fertilised lawns, so spotting clover may be an indication of a health issues with your lawn.

We always say “a healthy lawn will combat any weeds”.

In some cases, clover can be intentionally added to lawns to assist with drought. Some lawn lovers choose to live with a scattering of clover in their lawn, and depending on your grass type, the two may co-exist without being too much of an issue.

Preparing to Remove Clover

The easiest way to get rid of clover, is to look at your fertilisers and it’s nitrogen levels and look at using a higher nitrogen fertiliser to effectively deal with the clover. Our lawns all love nitrogen, while clover hates it. A good quality fertiliser like Lawn Solutions Premium Lawn Fertiliser is a must!

Otherwise, a thorough spray treatment will kill off the clover roots and the nitrogen will be replenished back into the soil. The following broadleaf herbicides are great for this, however be sure to read labelled rates and ensure the product you are purchasing is safe to use on your type of grass.

How to Get Rid of Clover in Lawn Naturally

Removing clover naturally means choosing the most environmentally friendly solutions to create a healthy lawn.

Effective natural clover control techniques:

Nitrogen-rich Fertiliser
Manual Removal – of only in small patches, ensure to remove all roots or the clover will return.
Corn Gluten Meal – Spread 1.0kg of corn gluten per 10m2, then water well. Let the corn gluten dry naturally.
Vinegar and Dish Soap – Add a few drops of dish soap to vinegar in a spray bottle, use that to spot treat the clumps of clover.
High Mowing – Clover grows low to the ground, keeping your mowing height a little higher will help block the sunlight from reaching the clover.
Organic Weed Killer
Smothering – For small isolated patches of clover, stretching a rubbish bag or similar over the patch and securing the corners can help smother the weed.

Prevent Clover Growth in Lawn

A healthy lawn will combat any weeds! Keep your lawn regularly maintained and have a fertiliser program in place! This will ensure your lawn remains healthy all year round and you beat the invasion of weeds.

Pre-emergent herbicides like Oxafert can help prevent any weeds from germinating. This product is a must in a good fertiliser program.
Proper mowing techniques
Adequate watering practices
Fertilising your lawn when required
Keeping your soil compaction at a minimum, yearly spring renovations are great for soil health when preforming aeration techniques. Compacted soil can lead to clover weeds in your lawn.

Chemical Clover Control Options

The following broadleaf herbicides are great for this, however be sure to read labelled rates and ensure the product you are purchasing is safe to use on your type of grass.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is clover beneficial for my lawn in any way?

2. Can natural methods be as effective as chemical herbicides for clover?

Yes and no, the simplest and easiest way to remove clover is to keep your lawn fed and healthy! Keep up regular lawn maintenance.

3. What are the most stubborn types of clover and how to prevent clover?

The easiest way to kill clover, is to look at your fertilisers and it’s nitrogen levels and look at using a higher nitrogen fertiliser to effectivley deal with the clover. Our lawns all love nitrogen, while clover hates it. A good quality fertiliser like Lawn Solutions Premium Lawn Fertiliser is a must!

Conclusion

Overall, the key to keeping your lawn free of weeds especially clover is to practice proper lawn care. Keep you lawn fed, watered and maintaned regularly. Clover plants are an opportunistic weed and will invade when the nitrogen levels in your lawn are low. Keep your lawn healthy!

A healthy lawn will always combat weeds! It is extremely important to note that, regular maintenance is key to maintaining a weed free lawn. This includes regular mowing, watering and fertilising to promote healthy growth and crowd out any weeds!

Understanding Lawn Weeds

Heres a few common weeds you may have heard of or even have found in your lawn:

Clover
Creeping Oxalis
Crowsfoot/Grabgrass
Nutgrass or Mullumbimby Couch
Bindii
Winter Grass
Cudweed
Soursob
Onion Weed
Summer Grass
Paspalum

Weeds are invasive and are the bane of all lawn owners! Weeds will compete with your lawn for essential resources such as oxygen, water and nutrients in the soil. Weeds will also result in the weakening of your lawn, making it more prone to other issues such as pest infestation, drought and disease.

Preparing to Remove Weeds

There are many different tools available on the market for removing weeds!

Weed Pulling Tools
Cultivators
Shovels
Garden Tool Sets
Weeders
Organic Weed Killers
Weed Killers

Always ensure when using weed killers that you follow the label rates and instructions and wear the appropriate safety wear as recommended on the bottles.

How to Get Rid of Weeds Before Laying Turf

It is very important to ensure you remove all weeds or previous grass types prior to installing your brand new lawn! If you do not do so, these weeds and other grass types will make their way through your new lawn.

Step-by-step guide to weed removal prior to laying new turf:

Clear the area of plants, grasses and any other unwanted weed growth. Pay particular attention to Kikuyu and Couch varieties as these are extremely invasive and may require more than one total kill application. Clearing the area is best done by spraying with a total kill, such as Roundup or Zero (Glyphosate). These needs to be complete a minimum of ten to fourteen days prior to laying your new lawn.
Cultivate or Rotary Hoe dead matter into the existing soil base or export/remove the dead matter off site.
Add in a turf underlay product to make sure you have the best base for your new lawn. We recommend 100mm as a good growing medium for a new lawn. Always be sure to double-check your pH levels to ensure it is still within the appropriate range of 5.5 to 7.

If you’d like to read more about proper soil preparation – read our blog on How to Prepare Soil for Turf.

How to Get Rid of Weeds in Lawn Naturally

There are benefits to controlling weeds in your lawn naturally. It helps keep your soil free from chemicals which in the long term is better for us, our families, our food and our planet.

Effective natural weed control techniques:

Boiling water method
Vinegar method
Mulching gardens to suffocate weeds
Removing weeds by hand

Preventing Weed Growth in Lawn

Keep your lawn healthy!

The obvious but not always easy solution to preventing weeds in your lawn is to keep your lawn healthy. A healthy lawn will combat any weeds due to it’s strong, deep and thick root system and dense growth that makes it hard for weeds to grow through.

Use a fertiliser such as Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser. To find out more about when and how often to fertiliser read out latest blog How Often Should You Fertiliser Your Lawn.
Protect with pre-emergents such as Lawn Solutions Oxafert. Pre-emergents are the best tool for preventing weeds emerging in your lawn. They will stop weed seedling from germinating in the soil.
Be vigilant and treat weeds as soon as they appear in your lawn. One year’s seeds is seven year’s weeds! Pull any weeds that pop up in your lawn before they have a chance to go to seed. Once gone to seed, this is when they become particularly stubborn to eradicate.
Mow regularly, some weeds can be suppressed with regular mowing.
Keep your lawn healthy with a regular watering routine. For an established lawn, our recommendation is to water deeply once per week. Preferably in the morning, otherwise in the afternoons when the temperatures are ideal.

Chemical Weed Control Options

Selective herbicides are able to selectively treat broadleaf weeds or grassy weeds, depending on the chemical without harming your lawn, however non-selective herbicides like glyphosate will kill any plant they come into contact with.

Always make sure to identify what weed you have and what your grass type is to ensure you don’t accidentally kill your lawn! If you are unsure, please email photos through to us at info@allturfsolutions.com.au where we are able to help identify and recommend what product you can use to treat.

Be sure to always follow labelled rates and ensure you wear the appropriate safety wear as recommended on the products labels. Safety comes first!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long should I wait to lay turf after applying weed killer?

Needs to be completed a minimum of ten to fourteen days prior to laying your new lawn.

2. Can natural methods be as effective as chemical herbicides?

Yes and no, the natural way can be labourous, especially if removing weeds by hand. But you do have the benefits of keeping your soils free from chemicals.

3. What are the most stubborn lawn weeds and how to deal with them?

Some of the most invasive and stubborn weeds include Nutgrass, Mullimimby Couch and Creeping Oxalis. Nutgrass and Mullimimby Couch can be treated with products like Lawn Solutions Sedge Control whilst Creeping Oxalis can be treated with products like Bow & Arrow which is safe to use on Buffalo and Couch lawns.

Conclusion

Always pick the best method that suits your lawn and your needs! If you prefer to hand remove weeds rather than applying chemical than have at it!! You will reap the benefits of a chemical free environment!

Remember – one year’s seeds, seven year’s weeds.