Is clover a problem?

[oddoneout]

My plan too. At this minute our 'lawn' is hosting many tiny bees making the most of clover in the sun. Awful to think of mowing right now.

I've got a bumblebee nest in the grass at the bottom of the garden. I must have mown over it at least once before I realised it was there so now I don't worry too much. The blades are set high for that patch anyway, and this evening will only be the second time I'll need to do that area - a kind of benefit of the extreme dry. I have put stick in the ground so I don't walk too close or over the entrance hole, but it's not a part of the garden that gets traffic as such, being a wilder bosky area - not least because of a full size apple tree 15' away on one side and ditto pear tree the other, in neighbours' gardens, which limits what I can do with that bit other than tough shrubs and perennials, and a seat to get the last of the evening sun and some distance from children playing in adjoining gardens. It's a good spot on occasion for watching the small birds that nest nearby and bring their broods out to forage - and now to watch the bees coming and going.

[Dave2002]

Not a problem for us. We send samples of our honey off to a lab to be analysed so we can see what our bees have been feeding on. They use something called polymerase chain reaction to look at the DNA of pollen grains found in the sample. All our summer blossom samples so far have came back with a very high white clover count, followed closely by bramble (blackberries) - and a surprising amount of tree pollen, so clover is not something we’d want to get rid of.

I'm glad to have been told about clover and the bees. There are indeed bees roaming round our clover patches. I will now take extra care to be even more minimalist.

[ardcarp]

Does anyone know where the expression 'to be in clover' comes from? It certainly puts clover in a good light!
The sort of lawns which are treated, fertilised, selective weed-killed, raked, rolled, aerated, and so on are just boring uniform green. So much nicer to have daisies, buttercups, clover, speedwell and so much more. Not too keen on the plantains, I must say; and when they get too big it's usually my trigger to get the mower out.

[oddoneout]

Does anyone know where the expression 'to be in clover' comes from? It certainly puts clover in a good light!
The sort of lawns which are treated, fertilised, selective weed-killed, raked, rolled, aerated, and so on are just boring uniform green. So much nicer to have daisies, buttercups, clover, speedwell and so much more. Not too keen on the plantains, I must say; and when they get too big it's usually my trigger to get the mower out.

I know it as 'pigs in clover', which is a favoured porcine forage on which they grow well. Not so good for ruminants which can suffer from bloat if they overindulge.

[gradus]

I'll swap your clover for my bindweed.