Weed of the Week: White Clover

This weeks weed of the week is White Clover. Commonly referred to as the “Shamrock”,  white clover consists of 3 oval shaped leaves that together grow from the central stem and make up this famous shamrock symbol. As luck would have it, it is estimated that approximately 1 in every 10,000 three-leaf clovers, a very lucky four-leaf clover can be found.

Native to North America, White Clover is one of the most common weeds that can be found in lawns all season long across Canada and the USA. In some cases, white clover is even being planted by homeowners in place of grass as a natural dense ground cover reducing the maintenance, water, time and money required to maintain a grass lawn.

White Clover is a very low growing broadleaf weed that is green in colour and has 3 leaflets that form what we most commonly call a shamrock. White and pinkish flowers grow and bloom as the plant ages making it much more obvious in a lawn when the clover is flowering. White Clover typically creeps its way through the lawn growing in patches, and multiple layers under the canopy of the turf. This makes it very challenging and difficult to control given its growing nature. Multiple applications are required throughout the season to help eliminate this weed.