Clover Lawn Trial
Clover Lawn Trial
Trial ran April 2024 – July 2026
Trial ran April 2024 – July 2026
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Can we reduce lawn care costs by growing a pollinator-friendly alternative to grass? Could one suit private gardens, large estate greens, roadside verges, and even roundabouts?
In Spring 2024 a volunteer swapped their grass lawn to test our theory by growing a low-maintenance flowering carpet of clover.
Read on to find out why everyone would benefit from this being a success.
The Verdict
The Verdict
Don't go pure clover. Over three years, a 10m² clover-only lawn was gradually taken over by buttercup and coarse grass. It looked great and buzzed with bees in year two, but by year three the clover had all but disappeared.
If you want a lower-maintenance, pollinator-friendly lawn, sow clover mixed into a grass seed blend — not on its own.
The Trial
The Trial
Grass lawns are expensive to maintain and poor for biodiversity — Johnstown's estates alone raise over €50,000 a year from residents just to cut public grass. Clover doesn't need mowing or watering, fixes nitrogen in the soil, and flowers all summer for pollinators. We wanted to know if it could actually replace grass, not just supplement it.
What happened
Year 1: Germinated fast, grew much taller than expected (up to 12 inches), and flowered briefly in late summer. Doesn't handle foot traffic — footprints squash it, though it recovers in a day or two.
Year 2: The best year. Dense flowering from June to August, constant bees. But crab grass and creeping buttercup began moving in by late summer, and the bed looked bare and patchy over winter.
Year 3: Buttercup and grass took over completely. Clover flowers became rare, bees stopped visiting, and the trial was ended in July. The plot is now being turned into raised vegetable beds.
Takeaway for your own garden
Pure clover isn't a realistic grass replacement — it can't hold its ground against weeds and grass long-term. But clover mixed into a standard grass seed mix still gives you the pollinator benefit, nitrogen-fixing, and reduced feeding needs, without the lawn collapsing after a couple of years.
Photo Journal
Photo Journal
Located in a private, north-facing garden, this 10m² test bed was seeded in Spring 2024. Despite its sheltered location, the clover is subjected to the same rigorous treatment and upkeep as public-facing greenery to evaluate its long-term durability.
Year 3
Year 3
A Worrying Change.
A Worrying Change.
3rd July
The Clover Lawn Trial has ended since buttercup and grass overwhelmingly took over the site. Bees have only been visiting the few clover and the buttercups have failed to impress them.
Now the private garden site is being prepared for raised vegetable beds for next year.
June 2nd
Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek
Clover flowers are few and far between with buttercups now smothering the lawn.
21st May
A convincing display of 30cm tall pockets of yellow creeping buttercup, pink petals of Herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum), and a few dandelions are still in seed, grass, and a rare glimpse of clover petals.
However, a few bees and pollinators are visiting.
25th April
More clover appear that leads to the hope that there will be summer flowers.
15th April
Patchy growth with creeping buttercup and grass taking firm hold in places.
5th April
Finally signs of clover recovering
4th March
Grass is taking over with significantly less clover.
Year 2
Year 2
Absolutely Awesome.
Absolutely Awesome.
Key findings
☘ Over winter, the lawn looked more like a barren vegetable patch compared to a grass lawn and this might be off-putting to those considering a front garden.
☘ Significantly earlier appearance of green growth and early flowering.
☘ Bittercress appeared and was cleared to stop it from spreading to the rest of the garden.
☘ The clover is home to many slugs and snails who love the damp, dark environment. No birds or mammals have been seen eating them, and so they don't appear to have any predators.
☘ The clover flowered in significant numbers until the end of August, attracting a constant flow of pollinators.
☘ Crab grass and creeping buttercup took hold in late August.
☘ The bed has not been cut at all this year.
November 11th
Clover is fast disappearing under the invading yellow creeping buttercup. It will be interesting to see what appears in the lawn next Spring.
11th September
Creeping Buttercup is starting to take over as a dominant ground cover.
1st September
'Crab' grass is sending out very long strands.
29th June
Dozens of Bees now regularly visit the clover.
21st June
Even at dusk the sea of clover flowers 'pop' to highlight their presence to pollinators.
Plant height 30cm, flower height 40cm.
11th June
100's of flowers in full bloom
June 2nd
Multiple flowers appear, plant height 30cm
21st May
The first few flowers appear, plant height 20cm
4th May
Nearby flowering chives already attract bees, but the clover lawn erupted with 'Bittercress'. Removing it by hand hopefully stopped it spreading.
1st April
Growth is now comparable to June last year. Some vermiculite and reclaimed clay soil mixed with compost were scattered to 1cm over the bed.
15th March
Growth is rapid, and extremely few weeds are amongst it. No signs yet of any borage returning.
4th January
Green even on frosty days.
Year 1
Year 1
Encouraging Display.
Encouraging Display.
Key findings:
☘ The Clover seeds germinated quickly largely due to the wet summer.
☘ Autumn may be a better time for sowing when frost and cold conditions limit competition from prevalent weeds, and the earlier plant maturity should produce flowers from Spring to Autumn.
☘ The crop rose 12 inches in height much more than anticipated. A small test section was cut to 3 inches high but returned to full height within weeks. Alternative varieties might be lower-growing.
☘ To increase biodiversity without raising maintenance costs a more interesting ground cover could be created by sowing other seeds alongside clover.
☘ You can't walk over a pure clover lawn without leaving footprints as you squash the plant. It does recover within a day or two but isn't ideally suited to foot traffic.
9th November
Still vibrant and green, although no flowers remain. The section where the lily plant shaded the soil has become bare.
11th August
Marigolds keep popping up in the lawn adding vibrance and contrast.
1st August
A dozen flower heads have appeared and each lasts a week.
Chickweed is rife but since it also benefits pollinators it is tolerated and isn't hindering the clover.
1st August
Although it appears as a flat green dense carpet it is quite 'bumpy' and unexpectedly 6 to 12 inches high. It can be lowered by cutting with a mower but we'll wait to see if it flowers first.
23rd July
There is some evidence that leaves are being eaten but that is the benefit of changing from grass and supporting biodiversity.
Sparrows have recently been seen nibbling on the leaves.
6th June
Some areas are doing better than others and soon the borage will be removed to avoid it smothering the bed.
30th May
Most seeds have germinated and, having laid dormant in the soil, Borage is also making an unexpected appearance.
8th May
The first signs of germination came within 2 weeks of being sown in the 3mx3m bed.
Only clover seed has been spread to evaluate its performance. Future sowings are likely to include a mix of plants.
Sown in late April these seeds were more than enough to cover the test bed.
Summary Review
Summary Review
"Loved the lawn, it buzzed all summer in year 2, and we didn't need a lawn mower.
We'd recommend using a grass mix."
More Biodiversity Options
More Biodiversity Options
We've documented a few and tested these in the public realm.
Read about Increase Lawn Biodiversity and also Stop Weedkiller Use to get started.
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