# I'm planning to turn my lawn into a mixed clover/grass lawn **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853 "2010-08-29T01:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/21 "2010-08-29T21:17:42Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I have considered this many times, and it pops back into my head every few years. I’ve never been able to find any information about how the clover does over the Winter. Does it stay green through the cold or go dormant? Do you have to keep mowing it all year long? The OP is in Alberta, Canada. It’s hard to tell if it stays green, because of the 2-3 feet of snow on top of it. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn\_K\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Shawn\_K\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn_K_1)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/22 "2010-08-29T21:57:02Z")
We’ve had clover in my parents back lawn for a long time (it grew there wild as far as I know) and the clover generally looks good, better than the grass, retains moisture too in our case better than the grass does. I live further north than Cat Whisperer and the clover comes back every year no problem. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/23 "2010-08-30T02:07:39Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > [@TruCelt](#): > > > > I have considered this many times, and it pops back into my head every few years. I’ve never been able to find any information about how the clover does over the Winter. Does it stay green through the cold or go dormant? Do you have to keep mowing it all year long? > > The OP is in Alberta, Canada. > It’s hard to tell if it stays green, because of the 2-3 feet of snow on top of it. You know, funnily enough, we actually do have plants here that stay green all year (other than evergreens). I’m always impressed by them. I imagine clover might be one of those plants - I’ll have to investigate this. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/24 "2010-08-30T02:28:26Z")
Clover grows to about 8 inches tall and then stops. If this is too tall and you decide to mow your clover, be warned that the clippings stick to everything and make a terrible mess. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/25 "2010-08-30T02:36:44Z")
Funny story, can’t remember if I’ve told it here or not. My old Landlord was quite elderly, and had grown up in the mountains of Pakistan. She and her husband had little to no idea about gardening and lawn care. So the front lawn was almost entirely wild strawberry, which drew rodents, not all of whom were cute little bunny rabbits. So, I set out to find the most labor efficient method of reclaiming our lawn. Zoysia was new and exciting at the time, and we agreed that we didn’t mind waiting a few years for it to take over, we;d just buy a bunch of plugs, and put them into the existing lawn. The advertisements guaranteed that it would eventually out-compete the most tenacious weed. So that spring we ordered a bunch of these things, and a device to make tiny little holes without bending over - right before you bent over to tamp the plug into place. . . . and put a plug about 1 per square foot through the yard. We then proceeded into the worst drought the area has seen in my lifetime. Forget even-odd, we were forbidden to water the lawns at all. Radio was filled with non-stop talk of “stasis” and “natural rejuvenation” and these special spray-paints you can use to make it look green. It was horrible. Our brand new little baby plants! Driving home from the airport after a long business trip toward the end of August I was greeted by an hilarious suprise - a green polka-dot lawn! ! ! Yes, the normal grass had browned and gone into stasis, along with most of the weeds. The Zoysia, which had not even had a proper chance to take root, had stayed green, thriving through the drought, and was growing beautifully. I’m not a big fan of grass, but if you must, get Zoysia. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/26 "2010-08-30T03:02:24Z")
I don’t know if zoysia grass grows in Alberta but that’s what I use on a southern facing hill. It crowds out most everything else, needs little water, and grows carpet thick. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/27 "2010-08-30T03:34:42Z")
No zoysia grass in Alberta - looking it up, it doesn’t do well in areas that get close to zero. I don’t know if that’s fahrenheit or celsius, but it doesn’t matter because we get well under in both scales. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/28 "2010-08-30T03:45:39Z")
My mother had the most delightful lawn ful of zoysia grass you ever saw. She was like a zoysia grass missionary (among other things she also liked, including Amway and Our Lord Jesus). I once fell at least 20 feet out of the willow tree out back and, on the zoysia grass, I bounced. It was lovely–didn’t have to water too much, didn’t have to mow too much. This was in Oklahoma. I tried to grow it in Colorado, and it does not work out well here, at least for me. In my mother’s yard I could play hard. The zoysia held up through everything, even below my swing. Here, it wears out very quickly if the mailman walks across it once a day. I think because it’s much colder here. (It also turns yellow before any other grass in my yard, at least in the winter. During dry hot times it turns a different shade of green than the other grass, but it still looks like grass, but in the winter, it’s a thick coat of yellow, while the rest of the grass is a dull green.) The clover is great, but it just happened, as others have said. I have some bare patches (where dandelions have been removed) and I don’t know what I’m going to put there. I’d better hurry and decide or it will be more dandelions or–horrors!–bindweed. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/29 "2010-08-30T03:59:24Z")
there are 3 type of zoysia with different cold tolerances. Not sure which I have (started it with a few sprigs) but it definitely goes below zero (F and C) in Mid-Ohio. I’ve only watered it once this year. In colder temps it doesn’t like shade. It goes dormant sooner and blooms later than other grasses but when it greens up each year it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/30 "2010-08-30T04:09:46Z")
Doing more research, still not recommended for Zone 3 (which is what Calgary is). I’m really not interested in more grass in my lawn; I can get drought-tolerant grass seed anywhere. I’m interested in getting away from boring monoculture. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/31 "2010-08-30T18:53:19Z")
Clover should be fine if you have a power lawn mower. My folks lawn had several large patches of clover, and they were a witch with the hand-pushed reel mower. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/32 "2010-08-30T19:11:39Z")
I’ve planted white clover in our yard. It’s more resilient than the fescue my husband likes (it really is too warm here in the southeast U.S. in the summer for fescue despite the supposed ‘heat tolerant’ varieties sold in stores here), it smells good and it doesn’t turn brown in the winter. The only downside I know of is the bees - you just don’t walk barefoot on a lawn full of clover while it is blooming. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/33 "2010-08-30T20:02:59Z")
When I was a kid my dad did the half-acre back yard in clover and bought a bee hive the following year. The bees turned into earwigs in fairly short order(colony failed, I guess) but I was mowing clover well into my teens. It attracted bees but it wasn’t like stepping into a bee hive. Can’t remember how it looked though. I eventually threw weed & feed on it and turned it into a grass lawn again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/34 "2010-08-30T20:16:24Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Doing more research, still not recommended for Zone 3 (which is what Calgary is). I’m really not interested in more grass in my lawn; I can get drought-tolerant grass seed anywhere. I’m interested in getting away from boring monoculture. **Cat Whisperer** , I think we need to have a conversation involving the word “permaculture”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853/35 "2010-08-31T06:21:51Z")
{Goes to look it up} Permaculture is a good idea! I’m aiming for plants that will be appropriate for the location I’m putting them in; my mantra is, “Let the plants do the work.” I’ve seen what plants are capable of from our last yard; put in the right spot, in the right conditions, they just thrive with little intervention. The amount of time and energy I’m putting into our front lawn is ridiculous here - I could spend an hour every day weeding that friggin’ thing, and it still looks ratty because the hill is too steep to retain water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-planning-to-turn-my-lawn-into-a-mixed-clover-grass-lawn/551853.md?page=1)