Ornamental · Fabaceae
White Clover
Trifolium repens
Three-part leaves marked with a pale crescent, topped by round white-to-pink flower heads on a low, creeping mat.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
40–90 days
USDA 3–10
Overview
Up close, white clover is a mat of trifoliate leaves, each split into three rounded leaflets that fan from a single point. Across every leaflet runs a pale V-shaped watermark, a soft crescent of lighter green that stands out against the darker leaf. The leaves ride on thin stalks that lift them just clear of the creeping stems below.
The stems themselves are the plant's signature. They are stolons, prostrate and branching, running flat along the soil surface and rooting wherever a node presses into the ground. From those rooted nodes new leaves and stalks rise, so a few plants thicken into a continuous, low green carpet close to the earth.
In bloom, the plant lifts round flower heads on slender stalks a little above the foliage. Each head is a tight globe of small florets, white and often washed with pink, standing just clear of the leaves. The whole planting stays low and ground-hugging, rising only ankle-high even as it spreads wide across the soil.
Care
The short version: give white clover full sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil, water it through a hard drought, and skip the fertilizer, since it makes its own nitrogen. Mow or trim to keep the low, leafy mat tidy.
Light
White clover colors up densest in full sun, where the leaves pack tight and the flower heads come thick, though it also holds in partial sun and partial shade. In shade the mat grows thinner and more open, with fewer of the round white heads.
Water
The leaves stay their freshest deep green in soil kept moist but well drained, watered roughly every 5 to 10 days in dry weather. In a long hot drought the foliage browns and the mat thins, then flushes green again once the rain returns.
Soil
The plant roots into a wide range of soils but looks fullest in a moist, fertile, well-drained loam. A pH of 6.0 to 7.0 suits it, and free drainage counts for more than rich ground, since the roots supply their own nitrogen.
Temperature
The low mat survives hard cold to -29°F (-34°C) and holds through summer heat to about 95°F (35°C). That toughness lets the same green carpet grow across hardiness zones 3 through 10.
Humidity
The foliage asks for no set humidity and takes ordinary outdoor air. Dry spells and damp weather both suit it, as long as the soil beneath stays evenly moist.
Feeding
The leaves stay green on little to no fertilizer, fed by nitrogen the roots pull from the air. The one useful step is dusting the seed with Rhizobium where those soil bacteria are missing, mainly in warmer zones.
Pruning
A mow or trim keeps the mat low and even, and the plant takes the cut cleanly. Cutting also strips off the round flower heads, thinning the bloom in areas where bare feet cross the leaves.
Repotting
none
Size & spacing
The leafy mat rises only 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) off the ground, while each plant creeps outward on stolons to cover 1 to 3 feet (30 to 100 cm). Those low, rooting stems fill a light sowing into an unbroken green carpet within one season.
When to plant
The seed is fine and the plant quick to green. Sow it outdoors in spring or late summer, leaving about 40 days before the first hard frost, and low green growth appears within weeks. From late spring through fall the round flower heads open, thickest in early summer.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Not typically started indoors; direct sow outdoors.
- Plant: Spring or late summer; allow about 40 days before first killing frost for late-summer seeding.
- Harvest: Late spring through fall (peak early summer); round white to pinkish flower heads.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–10
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
White clover seldom looks troubled, and most of what shows up is a matter of where the mat creeps and which insects work its flowers. Match the look below, then decide how to handle it.
Leaves browning and the mat thinning in drought
The shallow roots leave the plant exposed, so a long, hot drought fades the green leaves to brown and opens gaps in the mat. Once rain returns, an established stand colors back up. Deep watering through the dry stretch keeps the soil moist and carries the foliage through until it recovers on its own.
Fix:
- Water deeply during prolonged drought to keep soil moist
- Allow established stands to recover naturally once rainfall resumes
Clover mats creeping into thin turf
The spreading comes from creeping stolons, flat stems that run over the soil and root at each node they touch, so the low leaves knit into a widening patch. Thin, low-nitrogen turf gives them the opening. To push them back, feed the grass so it thickens and treat with a broadleaf herbicide containing fluroxypyr or clopyralid, most effective in fall.
Fix:
- Decide whether clover is desirable (eco-lawn) or a weed before acting
- Fertilize turf with nitrogen to favor grass over clover
- For removal, apply a broadleaf herbicide such as one containing fluroxypyr or clopyralid, most effective in fall
Bees crowding the low flower heads
The round white to pinkish flower heads draw honeybees and bumblebees, which work them right at ground level all through the bloom. The busy heads feed pollinators but sit in the path of bare feet in play areas. Mow the open heads off before children cross, wear shoes on flowering patches, and leave clover blooming elsewhere for the bees.
Fix:
- Mow before or during peak bloom to temporarily remove flowers in high-traffic or play areas
- Wear shoes when walking on flowering clover
- Keep some unmowed clover elsewhere to support pollinators
Toxicity
Behind its soft looks, white clover is non-toxic and even edible. Cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and people are safe around the leaves and flowers, and the young leaves and flower heads have long been eaten in small amounts. The one caution is for grazing horses and livestock, where heavy feeding on lush, wet growth can cause bloat or a harmless drooling called slobbers.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
A cat that mouths a leaf or flower head takes no harm, since nothing in the plant troubles them.
Dogs None
A dog can chew the leaves, nose through the mat, or roll across it freely. The plant is non-toxic, so a stray mouthful means nothing.
Horses Mild
For horses the leafy growth is good forage in normal amounts. The watch point is heavy grazing on lush, wet stands, where a fungus on the clover can set off the harmless but messy drooling called slobbers.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits take to the tender leaves and flower heads as a favorite food, and both are safe for them to graze.
Livestock Mild
The lush growth is fine pasture, yet a belly full of wet, leafy clover can bring on bloat in cattle, sheep, and goats. A swollen left flank and clear discomfort are the signs, so ease ruminants onto rich stands rather than turning them out hungry.
Birds Safe
Birds come to no harm from the plant. Poultry peck the leaves and flower heads freely.
People Safe
The young leaves and round flower heads are edible and have long been eaten in small amounts, with no toxic part on the plant.
Safe for cats, dogs, and people. Note that lush white clover can cause bloat in grazing ruminant livestock (cattle, sheep) and clover can occasionally accumulate cyanogenic glycosides or fungal infection affecting grazing animals, but it is excellent forage and not poisonous to pets or people.
Varieties
White clover varies in the size of its leaves and the height of its mat, from tall forage types to tiny turf selections. The three below are the ones most often seen.
Ladino clover
Ladino is the tall, big-leaved forage type, its stems rising two to four times higher than the intermediate clovers while its roots fix the most nitrogen of the group.
Dutch white clover
Dutch white clover is the familiar low lawn form, a mat around 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) tall that holds its green through summer heat.
Microclover
Microclover gathers the small-leaved turf selections such as Pirouette and Pipolina, their tiny leaflets staying low, flowering little, and melting almost unseen into the grass.
Companions
Clover pairs well with plants it can feed. Its nitrogen-fixing roots support neighboring grass and crops, which is why it turns up in lawn mixes and as a living mulch.
Plant near
turf grasses (fescue, ryegrass): Clover fixes nitrogen via Rhizobium that feeds neighboring grass, reducing fertilizer needs in lawn mixes.
vegetables and orchard/vineyard crops: Low-growing living mulch that suppresses weeds and enriches soil with nitrogen.
How to propagate
The plant multiplies as readily as it looks. Fine seed scatters across the soil, and the creeping stems spread it further on their own.
SeedEasy
Spring or late summer (about 40 days before first killing frost) · Establishes within several weeks; full stand in one season
The fine seed scatters straight onto the soil in spring or late summer, with about 40 days left before the first hard frost for a late sowing. Where the right soil bacteria are missing, mainly in warmer zones, the seed is first dusted with Rhizobium. Low green growth fills in within a few weeks and closes into a full mat across one season.
DivisionEasy
Spring through early fall · Quickly, as stolons root at the nodes
The plant also creeps outward on its own, throwing out stolons that flatten along the soil and root at every node into a self-mending mat. Rooted pieces lift and settle again any time from spring through early fall, taking hold fast because each already trails formed roots.
Myths
Clover is only a lawn weed to pull out.
Clover picked up its weed name in the broadleaf-herbicide years, though the low green mat earns its place. It feeds itself with nitrogen from the air, offers its flowers to pollinators, and asks for almost nothing, which is why gardeners now sow it into eco-lawns, bee lawns, cover crops, and living mulch.