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This is what happens when you mow clover

tcook8296

By tcook8296
in Wildlife and Habitat Management

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  • 3 weeks later...
MS22 3 pointer

MS22

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And if you don't mow your clover, you will eventually get inundated with grass like we did this year. Just an unfortunate situation where we didn't have the time to get up to do basically the only thing you need to do to maintain a clover plot. Clover stand was lush in the very early spring and we had frost seeded into any bare spots...had amazing germination from the frost seeding and then we let it all go to waste by not mowing at the right time and not giving the clover the ability to outcompete the grass. Our small woods plots fared much better though. Clover is low maintenance....but not no maintenance.

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MS22 3 pointer

MS22

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Jay, if you're not getting much clover, you might want to start anew in the spring(if the wifey lets you lol). This time, go through a seed company like welter seed in Iowa to get your seed. We have not been disappointed in anything we have gotten from them. The mix that has worked well for us is a mix of three white clovers...Alice, kopu II, and jumbo landino. We have done very little or nothing in the way of soil amendments where we have planted and the clover has done well everywhere( we just unfortunately let the grasses get out of control in our main plot this year because we couldn't get a chance to mow late spring early summer).

 

Apply clover at around 6# or so per acre... but clover is less susceptible to issues of overseeing than other plants so if you put down too much it's less of an issue. We just order 2-3# each variety. You'll also want to add a nurse crop that helps with grass/weed suppression until the clover can fight for itself. Oats will be your nurse crop in the spring and rye or a mix of rye and oats if you plant in the fall. I think it's something like 80-100# per acre of oats. You'll end up clipping the oats at height of clover in the summer after a spring planting...and clipping the rye/oats the following spring if a fall planting. The clover should be able to hold its own by that time.

 

The plot in my picture is deep in the woods. It doesn't get a lot of sun but gets enough. We frostseeded this to clover in late march of this year. We were basically frostseeding onto fairly bare ground but it had quite a bit of leaf litter which we tried to kick out of the plot to get more seed/soil contact. Lol no lime...no fertilizer, no mowing...We did nothing else to this plot the entire year...we didn't even plant a nurse crop...and it looks pretty darn good for absolutely no maintenance. Deer are in it very good and there is a giant scrape at one end. We will frost seed again next year to thicken plot. Probably give it a shot of low nitrogen fertilizer because of the poor soil...and possibly use grass specific herbicide called clethodim if grasses become an issue. We can't get a mover back here...but could probably get the desired effect with a weed whacker.

 

Basically all I'm saying is it doesn't take much to grow and maintain clover. Don't need a ton of fertilizer or lime but it does help with establishment and longevity if you want to devote the time and money. Maintenance is as simple as mowing and overseeding. But you definitely have to at least mow lo

 

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