Most amateur gardeners are constantly on the lookout for new ways to keep their garden looking its best, so if you have ever seen a strange weed that you couldn’t identify, you might be wondering what it is or how it got there.
It’s important that you can identify any problematic weeds that may pop up, so that you may get rid them before they cause any long term damage.
Well, do not worry anymore! In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the weed Wild Clover – we’ll go through what it looks like, where this weed grows, how to get rid of Clover, and more. We’ll help you to learn everything you need to know about this common weed!
So, what does Wild Clover look like? Keep reading and find out!
What is Wild Clover?
Trifolium – Latin for “three leaves” – is a genus of plants that includes clover. Clover comes in multiple hundreds of different varieties, including Trifolium Repens, or White Clover, and Trifolium Pratense, or Red Clover.
Clover plants provide several advantages in nature, particularly in uncultivated wild regions. Many species of wild animals, such as bears, birds, and other game creatures, forage on clover. The primary goal for bringing it over from Europe and Asia was to feed grazing animals as a forage crop.
It’s also beneficial for pollination; bumblebees are the most effective pollinators but honeybees can also help.
Native Americans would consume both raw and cooked Wild Clover. The roots would be dried and smoked as well. The seeds of the blooms were utilized to make bread, and you may even brew tea with the flowers. Clovers are associated with good fortune in the British Isles and Ireland, and the Shamrock good-luck symbol is frequently depicted as a four-leaf clover.
Where Does Wild Clover Grow?
Wild Clover is adaptable to a wide range of habitats and soil types. It grows freely and abundantly in a variety of scenarios, and it’s very resilient; it can recover just as thick and robust even after mowing it multiple times.
Clovers are generally located in meadows or near fences. Wild Clover spreads via seeds, rootstocks, and/or rhizomes, allowing it to grow in almost any location! The seeds are carried away by the wind as well as transported when adhered to people’s clothing and shoes.
It’s hardy, fast-growing, and flourishes in wet soil conditions. It can also endure drought by hibernating and can thrive in dry dirt as well. Because it may grow in a variety of conditions, including dry soil or moist soil, it is difficult to destroy since there isn’t any one strategy that works best for eliminating it.
How to Identify Wild Clover
If you notice this pesky weed in your yard or garden, start working to get rid of it immediately. Here are some visual characteristics to look out for.
Visual Characteristics
Wild Clover is a perennial and herbaceous weed. It grows low to the ground – no more than half a foot above the soil – and its leaves have three leaves or leaflets, unlike most other plants, which have five point leaves. The Clover leaves resemble little hearts, and there are three stems on each plant.
Clover has small, spherical flowers that grow at the top of their stems. White Clover, as its name suggests, means the flower has white petals all around it that are easy to spot. Red or Pink Clover, on the other hand, produces red or pink blooms.
The flower heads are generally 1.5–2 centimeters (less than 1 inch) in width, and they grow out of the top from 7-centimeter (2.75-inch) peduncles, or inflorescence stalks. The flowers look like the white stage of a dandelion flower.
There are dozens of little sepal petals on each flower head. The flowers of each specific type share many characteristics in terms of number and size of their petals; everything except their color.
Growth Stages
Wild Clover is most frequently seen in the spring, although it may live all year round.
Other Unique Traits
Wild Clover has a deep and long taproot that helps it to withstand drought and improve the structure of the soil.
The flowers and leaves of Red Clover are edible and can be used as garnishes in any recipe. They may be ground into a flour. The flowers are often processed to produce jelly and herbal tea blends. Its distinctive fragrance may be extracted in aromatherapy and utilized to create essences.
Furthermore, the species’ capacity to fix nitrogen promotes protein-rich development, allowing it to sustain a wide range of animals, including deer, turkeys, and rabbits.
Plants That Look Like Wild Clover
The primary difference between Red and White Clover are their flower colors – Red Clover flowers are predominantly red or pink, and White Clover flowers are white. Other than that, they have very similar characteristics.
Another weed that can potentially get mixed up with Wild Clover would be Wood Sorrel, or Oxalis. This weed has heart shaped leaves that grow in groups of three, but Oxalis has bright yellow flowers that have 5 pointed petals around it, so if you see these flowers it is not Clover.
How to Get Rid of Wild Clover
If you have small clusters of Wild Clover on your land, consider first removing them by hand rather than spraying it all with herbicide. Pulling these weeds manually is a quite successful method, but you must do it before the clover produces multiple leaves and blooms because at this point, their root system will be too feeble to keep them from being blown over by any significant amount of force.
In addition to natural methods, many common weed killers that have glyphosate as a main ingredient are effective at removing clover from your yard.
You may also use a chemical herbicide like Roundup®, which comes in various forms such as a sprayer bottle, granules for treating areas where the weed cannot be reached with spraying (e.g., under trees), and ready-to-use liquids for spot treatments or broad applications.
In Summary
Knowing what Wild Clover looks like is the best way to avoid it, as it is with any weed. If you can identify this annoying weed early on in your yard, you can take steps to get rid of it before it becomes a problem.
The goal of this blog post was to educate you on Clover and its growth and flowering pattern, as well as its similarities with other weed species, and we hope it’s done just that. There are certain characteristics that may assist you in recognizing this weed if you come across it in your garden or backyard.
If you’re unsure whether a plant in your lawn is Wild Clover, please feel free to contact us. We want to make sure this weed does not spread in your neighborhood community or hurt your backyard in any way. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and happy gardening!