Funny you should mention clover. The thing that got me on to this whole alternative lawn thing in the first place was an article in a gardening magazine talking about ground covers. It talked about how clover used to be included in lawn seed mixtures because of its nitrogen fixing properties and drought resistance. It stopped being included when a herbicide manufacturer created a weedkiller that also killed off clover. So in order to get this stuff on the market, clover had to be declared a weed, and it was removed from lawn seed mixes. I just about fell out of my chair.
All summer long, I had a long standing argument with my husband. Our back yard is filled with clover, and in the summer, it was lush and green, even though it's south facing, and received tons of direct, punishing sunlight, and our front lawn is a monoculture that turned a hideous brown. Blech. My husband was on my case about spreading the clover because I insisted that we by a reel lawn mower instead of a gas or electric one with a bag, and so every time I mowed the lawn I was spreading more clover.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 03:27 pm (UTC)Funny you should mention clover. The thing that got me on to this whole alternative lawn thing in the first place was an article in a gardening magazine talking about ground covers. It talked about how clover used to be included in lawn seed mixtures because of its nitrogen fixing properties and drought resistance. It stopped being included when a herbicide manufacturer created a weedkiller that also killed off clover. So in order to get this stuff on the market, clover had to be declared a weed, and it was removed from lawn seed mixes. I just about fell out of my chair.
All summer long, I had a long standing argument with my husband. Our back yard is filled with clover, and in the summer, it was lush and green, even though it's south facing, and received tons of direct, punishing sunlight, and our front lawn is a monoculture that turned a hideous brown. Blech. My husband was on my case about spreading the clover because I insisted that we by a reel lawn mower instead of a gas or electric one with a bag, and so every time I mowed the lawn I was spreading more clover.