There are two ways to grow a clover lawn.
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Seeding a new lawn.
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Over-sowing an existing grass lawn with Dutch White Clover
I'm going to explain both; Seeding a new Clover lawn and Over-sowing a grass lawn with Clover.
Preparing the area for sowing clover seed
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First strip the area to bare soil removing all grass and weeds including roots by digging over
or rotovating the area, don't dig to deep or you will end up with a mix of top soil and sub soil.
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Remove all weeds. The easiest way (unless you are an organic gardener) to be double sure all weeds and
roots are removed or killed is to spray the area with a systematic weed Killer that kills the whole plant including the root. This should be carried out about three weeks before you
plan to dig or rotovate and sow the clover seed to allow time for the weeds to die.
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Next rake it level shifting high areas of top soil into the dips, so you end up with a fairly level
lawn.
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Gently firm the surface soil, being careful not to compact the topsoil. You can do
this by gently treading it down. Start in one corner, walking slowly placing one foot in front of the other, turning around and repeating until the whole area is level and firmed.
A much easier way is to "Board it" to do this, you will need two large firm square wooden boards (plywood is ideal) place one in front of the other and work your way
across the area, standing on the last and lifting the other to the front and so on.
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Remove large stones and builders rubble. As you are flattening the ground remove
surface stones as you go. It's impossible to remove every stone, the earth is full of them and they naturally rise to the surface, so don't let it become an obsession. Any humps
and dips will now be more visible, rake of the humps into the dips and lightly tread down
Over-seeding a grass lawn with clover seeds will help improve the existing grass and can be carried out from spring through until September, the warmer and wetter
the quicker the seeds will germinate. To germinate clover seed needs soil temperatures to be at least 7-8 °C and must be kept moist.
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Lawn food, stop feeding the grass with chemicals.
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Closely mow the existing lawn and remove the grass.
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Scarify with a scarifying tool or garden rake removing as much ‘thatch’ and organic matter as you can
so the seeds get through to the soil.
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Hard compacted areas of soil. Rake or fork compacted areas being careful not to go to deep as
clover seeds will not germinate if they are buried more than a quarter-inch deep.
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Water the whole lawn before sowing the seeds.
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Sowing the clover seeds. I recommend using the Dutch white clover seeds, it is relatively low
growing, tolerates close mowing, and out competes most weeds.
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Mix the seeds with soil or sharp sand in equal amounts to make spreading the seed evenly over the lawn
easier.
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Keep moist by watering immediately after sowing and daily until the seeds germinate, Clover seeds
germinate about one to two weeks after sowing, depending on the weather.
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Care for the clover seedlings, clover doesn't need any special care, just keep the lawn moist with a
gentle spray of water every couple of days until the clover is established in the grass.
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Keep off the newly over-seeded lawn until the new seedlings are firmly anchored.
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Mowing the new lawn. The original grass will have benefited from the extra watering and probably
getting a bit long, so as soon as the clover seedlings
are firmly anchored give your new green lawn a cut.