Sow clover in the garden

Content

• Sow clover in the garden
• The required site conditions for the cultivation of white or red clover
• Proceed correctly with clover sowing
• Pay attention to the germination of the seed
• Tips

Clover does not take long to wait after sowing

Sow clover in the garden

The various types of clover are often cultivated in Central Europe as feed plants for cattle and other grazing animals. On certain soils, the clover can also replace the lawn and serve as additional bee pasture in the garden.

Early article Is the clover also edible for humans? Next article The right care for the clover in the garden

The required site conditions for the cultivation of white or red clover

If you want to locate white or red clover in your garden, then you should first be aware of the necessary site conditions. As a rule, all clover species of the genus Trifolium need relatively much water, so that very dry soil (for example, in dry slopes) must be irrigated during the cultivation of clover. Sandy and peaty soils are unsuitable for clover cultivation, since the latter, for example, have a much too acidic soil environment. In terms of sunlight, the clover is less demanding, shady but the planned acreage should not be. While lawns suffer from a nitrogen-poor soil, clover grows well on nitrogen-poor soils. This is because the clover contributes via so-called nodule bacteria itself to the enrichment of the soil with nitrogen.

Proceed correctly with clover sowing

The fine seeds of the clover can be sowed relatively poorly by hand. It is therefore better to provide the following things for sowing:

Mix the clover seeds with the soil in the wheelbarrow and mix several times thoroughly with a shovel. Carefully dug the planned acreage and level the surface well. Then use a shovel to spread the mixture of seeds and soil evenly. Then cover it with another layer of earth, which should not be thicker than about 5 millimeters. Pour the acreage well and keep the site evenly moist until germination.

Pay attention to the germination of the seed

The seed of clover has only a relatively short phase of germination. Therefore, it can sometimes happen that commercially purchased seeds have a poor germination rate. It therefore makes sense to perform a so-called germ test on a small surface or in a pot before sowing, so you can save yourself unnecessary work in the case of too old seeds.

Tips

As the clover is one of the comparatively short-lived plants, it does not automatically grow further as a bedding plant and lawn substitute. Especially when clover is kept for a short time, mowing and the lack of flowering do not result in self-sowing. That's why you have to seize regularly to rejuvenate your stock.