Microclover Planting Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is microclover?
  • White clover (Trifolium repens) is a herbaceous perennial plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is a bean plant that come backs to year after year! Microclover (Trifolium repens var. Pipolina) is a selection from white clover that has smaller leaves and a lower growth habit. It is white clover’s smaller cousin.
• How does microclover help my lawn?
  • Microclover is a legume. Legumes can convert atmospheric nitrogen into organic nitrogen forms that can be utilized by common lawn grass types.
  • White clover was a common component of lawns before the introduction of broadleaf weed herbicides and artificial fertilizers in the 1950’s. The organic nitrogen that microclover releases acts as a natural fertilizer for the rest of your lawn.
  • When seeded at an appropriate rate, it mixes better with most lawn grass than white clover, without forming clumps and without excessive competition of the existing lawn. Thus, the lawn also tends to have a more uniform appearance.
  • Microclover has a dark green color that many homeowners enjoy.
• Is microclover resistant to pet urine?
  • Yes.
• Does microclover increase my lawn’s tolerance?
  • Yes. Clover in general is midly more tolerant to wear that regular lawn. In addition, it is extremely drought tolerant.

Before

When to plant

The optimal time to grow microclover is…

• In the Spring - Two weeks after the last average frost date.
• In the Fall - Four weeks prior to the first average frost date.

In Alberta, the Frost dates are approxiamately…

City	Prov	Last Frost of Spring	First Frost of Autumn
Athabasca	AB	May-21	Sep-10
Calgary	AB	May-26	Sep-10
Edmonton	AB	May-10	Sep-19
Grande Prairie	AB	May-16	Sep-13
Lethbridge	AB	May-18	Sep-18
Medicine Hat	AB	May-14	Sep-18
Peace River	AB	May-21	Sep-07
Red Deer	AB	May-24	Sep-09

If you live in Calgary (as we do), your planting season would look like…

(The dates on this chart are courtesy of the online Farmers Almanac. You can get more info about “climate normals” from Environment Canada.)

Prepare the area

• If there is existing grass, mow the lawn as short as possible.
• Rake the area to remove dead grass and open up the soil. Try to till the soil up to a few centimetres deep.

During

Overseeding mixed with soil

When overseeding an existing lawn, mix the seed with the appropriate amount of soil and spread over the intended growth area. Rake the mixture over the area. The soil amounts in the chart below will allow you to spread the seed/soil mixture to a depth of approxiamately 6mm (1/4”) over the coverage area.

Microclover Seed	Soil Amount	Coverage
125g	150L (5 cu.ft)	25 m^2 (250-ish sq.ft)
250g	300L (10 cu.ft)	50 m^2 (500-ish sq.ft)
500g	600L (20 cu.ft)	100 m^2 (1000-ish sq.ft)

New seeding mixed with grass seed

A general rule of thumb when starting a lawn from from scratch is to use 5% microclover seed of the total weight of the grass seed being sown. Combine the microclover and grass seed together and spread with a regular seed spreader. The coverage in the chart below is based on an aggresive “seeding” of regular grass (but now improved with microclover seed). You can lower the seed amounts by 1/3 for a more conservativce approach to establishing your new lawn.

Microclover Seed	Grass Seed	Coverage
125g	2.5kg	50 m^2
250g	5.0kg	100 m^2
500g	10kg	200 m^2

New seeding all on its own

The application and coverage of this type is similar overseeding an existing lawn. Note that Vintage seed is uncoated and very light-weight. It is recommended you mix the seed with equal parts soil, sand, or even sawdust to help “weigh” it down, allowing it settle onto the coverage area properly. Use a seed spreader (the kind you wheel around the lawn) to evenly distribute the seed.

Microclover Seed	Coverage
125g	25 m^2 ( 250-ish sq.ft)
250g	50 m^2 ( 500-ish sq.ft)
500g	100 m^2 (1000-ish sq.ft)

After

Water the area immediately after application. Keep the area moist with daily watering until the clover is established, usually three to seven days.

Great work! Enjoy the extra free time you will have that night normally be spent maintaining your non-clovered lawn!

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An extremely detailed (stuff like soil PH details) guide to planting clover can be found on WikiHow… http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-a-Clover-Lawn