White Dutch Clover

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White Dutch Clover is a cool-season cover crop known for its heat-tolerance and resilience. This clover variety is robust and can withstand heavy traffic and repeated mowing. This also makes it a great variety for grazing with chickens, goats, sheep, etc.

White Dutch Clover fixes nitrogen at the rate of 80-130 lbs per acre. It provides a dense mat of vegetation on the soil which suppresses weeds and prevents erosion. The thick, dense root system is interconnected and helps to alleviate soil compaction in harder soils.

This clover variety is the most heat-tolerant and drought-tolerant. In the south, it is typically grown as a winter annual. Due to the heat-tolerance, it will grow longer into the spring before flowering. In the northern states, it can be grown as a perennial.

Clover should be planted in the fall a month or two before the average frost date. This will allow enough time for the clover to grow and establish ground cover before cold temperatures arrive. In a vegetable garden situation, clover should be cut before going to seed. This will prevent any weed issues in the following years. We suggest using chickens, goats, or other livestock to graze the clover while adding additional nutrients to your garden soil. If mowed, clover can be tilled into the soil immediately to add organic matter or “green manure”. It can also be mowed and left on top of the soil to suppress weeds until planting time.

Clover can be broadcast by hand, broadcast with a spreader, or direct-seeded with a walk-behind planter like our Hoss Garden Seeder. If broadcasting, we recommend raking or dragging the soil to lightly cover the Seeds and improve seed to soil contact. This will result in better germination and a better cover crop stand.