Vineyards out here plant either clover or mustard in-between the rows of vines so nitrogen is returned to the soil.

If mustard is planted, tall stalks and their distinctive yellow flower blooms giving the impression the vineyard is carpeted in yellow. Most of the blooms occurred the last month, and all the out-of-towners slammed on their brakes and sortof pulled over to get their picture taken with the blooming mustard in the background

I noticed that Scott’s sells a clover blend now.

https://www.scotts.com/en-us/p...-builder-clover-lawn

Thanks for the question....good thread.

Does clover hold the soil as well as grass?
I have to mow over 1/3 acre on a slope that averages over twenty degrees, it'll kill me sooner rather than later. How much care does clover need, how much mowing? Big rains move a lot of water down the hill, the clover endures that?

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Yes, starting three years ago I have planted clover (micro and Dutch) in our lawns at both my house in western Washington and my daughter's house in eastern Washington.

We have been chemically free in yards for nearly 40 years (because of children and pets paying in the yard) ... with the exception of using baking soda on the yard and roof to get rid of the moss.

I learned that clover seeds need to have actually contact with the soil to germinate. If just sprinkled over existing grass the seeds are very small and will not get down to the soil level. Helps a lot to thatch the lawn first.

Best decision we ever made.

Thanks for the info

I ordered 3 lbs of Microclover seed last night from Seed World. They advise to mix with sand or lime in order to broadcast it effectively since the seeds are so tiny.

Hopefully this works as that stuff isn’t cheap! Like 25 bucks a pound.

^^^^^^^
They are tiny seeds and weigh less.

Establishment White clover has approximately 776,000 seeds per pound. The full seeding rate is 4 pounds PLS per acre for a solid stand. The recommended seeding rate for a grass/legume pasture is 25 percent or 1 pound PLS per acre.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Yes, starting three years ago I have planted clover (micro and Dutch) in our lawns at both my house in western Washington and my daughter's house in eastern Washington.

We have been chemically free in yards for nearly 40 years (because of children and pets paying in the yard) ... with the exception of using baking soda on the yard and roof to get rid of the moss.

I learned that clover seeds need to have actually contact with the soil to germinate. If just sprinkled over existing grass the seeds are very small and will not get down to the soil level. Helps a lot to thatch the lawn first.

Best decision we ever made.

Thanks for the info

I ordered 3 lbs of Microclover seed last night from Seed World. They advise to mix with sand or lime in order to broadcast it effectively since the seeds are so tiny.

Hopefully this works as that stuff isn’t cheap! Like 25 bucks a pound.

Eeks ... I ordered the miniclover (same as microclover) from Outsidepride. Here is their link:

https://www.outsidepride.com/s...seed/miniclover.html

I ordered 5 lbs miniclover for $80 ($16 per lb) and also order 5 lbs of the White Dutch clover for $20 for another part of the yard.

My neighbor has three horse, he planted clover a couple weeks ago.
Once my garden is harvested I'm adding buckwheat seeds to the garden, it will only grow until the first hard frost, it's a winter kill plant then I'll till it in it also adds a lot of nitrogen to the soil.

When we built the house, I was told by the builder that he wasn't allowed to leave bare dirt due to local codes (I was trying to save some $). I didn't want fescue and really didn't want to have to use a lawn mower.

I bought a bag of deer/wildlife seed mix that had a substantial amount of clover in it and had the builder spread that along with some straw, etc. It came in and did well for a while. Apparently clover doesn't just continue too well (or these specific species don't).
20 something years later there is clover and other native grass, a lot of wild violets, moss, dandelions, etc. It's all green and most of it doesn't grow very tall - so I don't have to cut it too often, but I do have to mow. Maybe 6 or 8 times a summer. Once or twice in spring and fall.

And I do still have deer and turkey and such visit the yard from time to time....