Clover: planting and care, description of the 25 best varieties and species, when to sow with a photo

Clover is found everywhere on the planet. Does not grow only in Antarctica. The culture is better known as fodder. But there are some types of decorative clover. Planting clover and simple care will allow you to equip the site, the area around the house, breaking the green lawn in a classic style. A clearing of tens of thousands of emerald green leaves and balls of flowers looks elegant and natural.

Description

Plant from the legume family: annual and perennial:

1. Clover grows up to half a meter. Flowers-balls are white, red, with many shades.
2. Leaves of three plates, extremely rare 4. No wonder the translation from Latin means shamrock (trifolium). A popular belief says that finding a four-leaf clover brings good luck. When it is dark, the leaves "sleep", stretch upwards, lining up along. With the onset of dawn - bloom.
3. Roots are strong, sometimes woody.
4. Clover is pollinated by bees and bumblebees. After flowering, a pod is formed containing no more than two seeds (yellow or purple).
5. Special bacteria living on clover roots nourish the earth with useful minerals, such as nitrogen.

Earlier, Russian people called the plant porridge. And not in vain. There was so much nectar in the flowers that it flowed down the stem. Clover is one of the valuable fodder crops, nutritious for livestock. Does not rot in hay, grows quickly after mowing.

The plant grows slowly at first. Fully developed by the age of two.

Useful properties

The shamrock is endowed with medicinal properties, which is why it is widely used in traditional medicine:

• as a diuretic;
• anti-inflammatory;
• choleretic;
• antiseptic;
• expectorant;
• hemostatic.

Many other diseases were treated with the plant: decoctions, tinctures, lotions. Clover lotions help against wounds, burns, skin diseases.

Decoctions, tinctures treat inflammation in the body, cleanse the blood, relieve swelling, headache, remove unnecessary fluid.

Delicious and healing clover honey. It is fragrant, with a pleasant taste. Thrifty housewives season the soup with seasoning from dried flowers, cut stems and leaves into vegetable salads, as they are rich in essential oils and vitamins.

Types and varieties

Three hundred species of clover are known. More than 75 varieties grow in the area of the former Soviet Union. In Russia, the plant is grown as a fodder crop for the needs of animal husbandry and agriculture. After threshing the seeds, greens remained - an excellent fertilizer.

In addition to fodder clover, exotic species are planted for crop production needs. Clover red (meadow) and white (creeping) are the most common plant varieties. They differ only in color.

Meadow (red)

Clover biennial or perennial, whose height is from 20 to 60 cm. On sprawling shoots, fragile three-lamellar leaves, spotted white. Flowering occurs at the end of spring, beginning of summer. Globular inflorescences red, white, variegated.

Protein in clover is no less than in alfalfa, so meadow clover is no less nutritious. It is used to prepare food for animals.

Winter and spring clover have been grown in Russia for more than two hundred years. The most popular Russian varieties:

• Vyatsky;
• Moscow;
• Yaroslavsky;
• Chernihiv;
• Pskov;
• Middle Russian.

Meet red clover on forest edges, lawns, clearings.

Creeping (white)

Perennial herbaceous half-meter plant. Creeping shoots take root in the internodes. Leaves of three blades on petioles are elliptical in shape, whitish at the base. It blooms with small flowers: white, pink, light green.

Clover blooms in May, the duration of flowering - until the start of frost. The variety is a long-liver (at least 10 years) compared to other species. Viable, able to quickly recover from trampling. In terms of calories, it is not inferior to other green fodder. Beautiful honey plant.

To create a natural green lawn, gardeners often choose creeping clover.

Breeders have discovered attractive new species of shamrock suitable for creating ornamental lawns.

Dark Dancer

Literal translation - "Dark Dancer". Exotic look. Bright, elegant. The plant is not higher than 25 cm. White flowers among purple leaves edged with greenery. It will take its rightful place in a flower bed, in a flower pot.

The view is unpretentious, winter-hardy. Grows in sunny and shady areas. He is not getting a haircut.

Dragon's Blood

Short plant, less than half a meter. "Dragon's Blood" is the literal translation of the title. On creeping stems, three-lobed leaves, dark green at the base. Cherry-colored stains run through the center.The plant is beautiful. Decorate the lawn, flower bed, flowerpot. Clover is spreading quickly over the site.

Blossoms in summer with white flowers. The variety is undemanding to the soil. Frost resistant. Grown to create landscape compositions.

Green Ice

The plant has special leaves: one half is light, almost white, the other is emerald green. The flowers are white. Nice decorative look. Unpretentious to grow and care.

Rivendell

The plant is low, with small leaves, viable. Doesn't require haircuts. Grown to decorate lawns. Demanding on fertile soil, grows well in peat bogs. It grows in shady places for a long time, for 10 or more years. Kind of drought-resistant.

Klondike

Danish variety of upright shamrock with large leaves, which is why it is planted with large herbs. The species is early, viable, winters well. Often grows mixed with other types of grass.

Silvester

The plant is very hardy. The variety is early. Grown with tall herbs for livestock feed. Grows due to numerous shoots.

Pipolina

Due to its low growth (no more than 5 cm), the grass is called microclover. Green all year round. Grows back quickly after mowing. Viable, drought tolerant. Even in extreme heat, a lawn seeded with microclover looks fresh. After low mowing, due to the dense structure of the rhizomes, voids quickly overgrow.

Ronny

Short species of white creeping clover with small leaves. It tolerates harsh winter climates. Disease resistant. Grown both for landscaping and for livestock feed.

Volat

The variety was bred by Belarusian breeders. The plant is tall, the leaves are large, the stems are soft, juicy. Cultivated for livestock feed. Grows back quickly after mowing.

Duhmyany

Large grass with medium-sized leaves. The variety was created by breeders from Belarus in order to grow livestock feed.

Wizard

Medium-sized variety. Caloric for animals. Grown on pastures grazing animals. It regrows quickly after mowing, which is why clover is harvested for the winter for livestock.

Nanook

Grow like lawn grass. The plant is not higher than 15 cm. It looks like an elegant thick carpet with white and purple flowers. The variety is viable, undemanding to soils.

Puffy

Perennial grass 25 cm high. Pink flowers are spherical. Stipules elongated, ovate-lanceolate. Grows in the steppe, in the foothills. The leaves are attached to the stem with petioles.

Alpine

A half-meter plant with long roots sitting deep in the ground. The stipules of the alpine clover-shrub are large. The leaf consists of three leaves. The flowers are small, pink-purple. Clover blooms in mid-summer. Grows in dry fertile soil.

Farmed

The popular name of the variety "seals". The bush is fluffy and hairy. A plant with a straight thin stem. The leaves are trifoliate, elongated, with small teeth. Pale pink flowers are oblong or round. Blooms in mid-July. Grows in sandy soils.

Calised

Half-meter plant, common. Leaves of three petals in the shape of an ellipse sit on long petioles. Heads of pale pink inflorescences are located on legs.

Multi-leaf

Perennial grass. Flowering stems are located on the main root. The apical inflorescence looks like an umbrella. Purple flowers are large. Blooms in mid-summer.

Mountain

Plant growth from 20 to 60 cm. It has a developed main root. Stipules ovate, leathery. The leaves are elliptical in shape, located on the petioles. There are usually two flowers per stem.Clover grows in the mountains. In Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia and other countries. The plant is used in the treatment of diseases.

Burdock

The grass is short, about 40 cm. The plant is branchy. Leaf petioles with stiff hairs. Lower stipules with pointed ends. Clover blooms in spring, in May.

Hybrid (Pink)

Perennial plant. Grows in the European part, Asia, in the north of Africa. The grass is tall, the stems are not lower than 80 cm. There are trifoliate leaves on the petioles. Inflorescences are white-pink spherical in shape. Used for livestock feed. The leaves sit firmly on the petioles, they do not crumble when harvested for the winter, the hay is softer.

Four-leaf

Plant with four-leaf leaves. There are several varieties of four-leaf clover.

Good Luck

Grass has green leaves with dark raspberry stripes	Bright purple leaves , bordered with a green stripe	Leaves are bright, green, shiny, dark shadows in the middle

Egyptian

The plant is called Alexandrian or Bersim. The height of the stems is not less than 75 cm. The oblong stipules are leathery with sparse hairs. The petioles on the upper leaves are longer than those on the lower ones. The flowers are pale yellow. The plant is characterized by early death of leaves. The fruits have one seed. Used as green manure and livestock feed.

Golden

He is sometimes called the rustling. Annual grass grows up to 40 cm. Flowering continues all summer with amazing yellow flowers. Over time they turn brown. Natural paint is made from the plant, used in treatment. Flowers are excellent honey plants.

Application

Due to its rich chemical composition and healing properties, clover is used in folk medicine, cosmetics, and cooking.

Healing properties

Clover honey is a powerful medicine against many diseases.

From flowers prepared:

• infusions;
• healing tea;
• decoctions.

In grass flowers, leaves contain:

• vitamins of the B-group, as well as E, C, K;
• minerals: potassium, phosphorus, selenium, calcium, iron;
• essential oils;
• phytoestrogens;
• flavonoids;
• salicylic and other organic acids.

Clover - antiseptic, antiviral, diuretic, choleretic. Lowers blood sugar, cholesterol, calms the nervous system, fights fungus, cures women's diseases, cleanses the blood, lymph, removes toxic substances from the body.

Clover honey

Bees extract nectar from the flowers of a plant. This is clover honey. It cannot be without impurities of other herbs. Since it is impossible for the bees to tell which plants to sit on, where - it is impossible.

Clover honey is light with an amber hue, floral aroma. If the nectar is collected from red flowers, the product becomes yellow-pink. Honey is sweet, not bitter. When fresh, the product is not liquid, but flows easily, thickens over time (within a few weeks).

Applied to treat sore throats, inflammations, coughs, colds. Restores immunity, calms nerves. Clover honey is especially useful for the female body, it is not for nothing that it is called ladies' honey. Helps maintain female youth and beauty.

Contraindications

There are restrictions on the use of clover preparations. Do not use under certain conditions:

• pregnant women;
• under reduced pressure;
• with rapid blood clotting;
• oncological diseases of female organs.

If a person has had a heart attack, a stroke, they are not treated with drugs with clover. Before being treated with clover, you need to consult a doctor.

Traditional medicine

In the field of traditional medicine, clover is widely used. Means prepared from the plant are used both for the treatment and prevention of diseases:

1. Tea brewed with clover boosts immunity, relieves insomnia, relieves nervousness.
2. Clover honey treats colds. It is also used instead of sugar as it is less nutritious.
3. Tinctures of flowers help with high blood pressure, headaches. Tinctures are prepared both with water and vodka.
4. Decoctions reduce sugar, cholesterol. Treat colds.
5. Clover ointments help with skin diseases, heal wounds, burns.

Forage crop

Clover contains a lot of protein, so it is nutritious. It has all the necessary elements needed for the winter feeding of cattle.

Varieties bred specifically for livestock feed are planted on pastures for grazing animals and for harvesting grass for the winter. Due to the nutritional value of clover, even in dry form, milk yield does not decrease in winter, animals do not get sick.

Cooking

Due to its beneficial properties and composition, the plant is added to culinary dishes. Made from clover:

• drinks, tea;
• dressing for the first hot dishes;
• salads;
• side dishes;
• shchi;
• casseroles with vegetables.

Landscape design

The adjoining territories, garden plots are decorated with a trefoil, they create landscape design: alpine slides, colorful rocky gardens (rockeries). Red clover varieties are suitable for these purposes. Breeders have bred several species. Designers use many varieties of plants to implement ideas.

Lawn grass

Lawns are decorated mainly with creeping clover, a perennial with white flowers. Undersized varieties are planted, thick, unpretentious, which quickly rise after mowing, trampling. Clover lawns decorate the site, give an elegant, well-groomed look.

Growing

Under natural conditions, the shamrock grows without care, no one weeds it, does not loosen it, does not feed it. But growing a beautiful green lawn without human intervention will not work. Separate rules for planting clover still have to be taken into account.

Soil preparation

First choose a place: sunny or shaded. Depending on the plant variety: some like a lot of sun, others - shade. They dig the earth deep, remove weeds, and level the area for planting.

Sowing dates

Clover is planted both in spring and autumn. To sow 1m^{2 area, a little over three hundred seeds will be required. They can be bought at the store. You can prepare seed material yourself, manually.}

Spring

The plant is sown in late April, early May. It depends on the region and the average daily air temperature. The main thing is to wait until the soil warms up. If you sow seeds in cold soil, they will not sprout, lie in the ground for a long time and rot. And if shoots appear, they will be rare.

Autumn

When sown in autumn, seeds germinate longer than in spring. It is necessary to calculate the sowing time so that young seedlings grow at least 10 cm before frost.

Before winter

To improve the soil on the site, it is better to plant clover before winter. It will enrich the earth with nitrogen. Long roots go deep into the ground, so the access of air and moisture is facilitated. For fertilizer, the grass is mowed until the stems become coarse.

How to plant

To make the plantings uniform, the seeds are mixed with sand in a large container (for example, a garden cart):

1. Scatter on the site.
2. Sprinkle on top with a thin (no more than 1 cm) layer of earth, turf.
3. Planting needs to be watered. But not from a hose with strong pressure, but with a fine spray nozzle.
4. During the first 10 days after sowing, the plot should be moistened. After 2 weeks, young sprouts will appear.

Weeding and loosening

If the area sown with trefoil is small, then you can weed the plant manually when there are a lot of weeds. In large areas, the seeds of the plant are mixed with cereals. They will crowd out all the weeds. During the period of clover growth, cereals are mowed.

Irrigation

For the growth of trefoil, lush flowering, watering is necessary. Water it no more than once a week to keep the lawn looking fresh.

The plant does not like waterlogged soil, although it does not like a long drought either, with the exception of certain varieties.

If gaps between trees, lawns are planted with trefoil, the plant is not irrigated at all, it has enough rain. It is convenient to equip drip irrigation, especially for a well-groomed lawn.

Feeding

The grass does not need to be fed. But it won't be harmful. When digging the earth, you can add organic matter (manure, peat, humus). If you don’t like how the shamrock blooms, you want a more lush, long flowering, the plant is fed with minerals: phosphorus, potassium. Ash is suitable from folk remedies.

Diseases and pests

Many varieties of shamrock need trimming. Otherwise, the grass will thicken, snails and slugs will start in it due to high humidity. From thickening, the process of decay, the occurrence of fungal infections, can begin. Preventive grass cutting will help to avoid trouble.

Neighbours

Timofeevka meadow will be a good neighbor of the shamrock. She does not oppress clover, so she will make him a good company. Meadow fescue will also get along peacefully with shamrock.

Aeration

Trefoil lawn owners need to aerate 1-2 times per season to keep their lawn looking neat, tidy and fresh. The aerator loosens the soil, providing better access of air and moisture to the roots. He combs the lawn grass, pulling out moss, weeds.

Lawn mowing

Some gardeners believe that the autumn haircut can be omitted, because the fallen leaves will warm the shamrock in frosts and will not freeze. Experienced gardeners say that the foliage must be removed, the lawn is cut:

1. If not trimmed, stems that have died under the snow will attract rodents, harmful insects.
2. The new roots of young plants will not have time to prepare for the cold.

Cut the grass at least 15 days before frost. Leaves and debris are removed before cutting.

Lawn Shelter

To cover or not to cover the lawn depends on the climate in the region. If the winters are severe, the frosts are strong, then it is advisable to cover.

If the lawn is prepared for the winter correctly, it is not afraid of the cold. Experienced gardeners share their experience:

1. The snow is not being removed, the paths are being cleared.
2. It is advisable not to walk on the lawn.
3. Due to thaws, an ice crust sometimes forms. It is broken to provide air access.

When following the gardeners' advice, the shamrock will not freeze.

Collection and storage

During the flowering period, inflorescences are collected by hand or cut with a knife. Stacked in baskets without pressing. Dry in the open air, in a shaded place. For drying, an electric dryer is used, but the temperature should not exceed 75 ° C. It is impossible to allow the grass to dry out, otherwise it will not be healing. Flowers are stored no more than two years. The roots of the plant are dried in the same way.

Answers to questions

Often there is a question about what time to aerate the lawn. Gardeners say that it is desirable to hold it in late spring. After the first shoots, it will become clear what the lawn looks like: voids and thickening. The place where aeration is needed will immediately become noticeable.

One of the most common questions is: "What kind of clover to sow on the lawn?"

Gardeners are advised to choose a white creeping shamrock. He has many species of undersized, viable. There are even those who don't cut their hair.

Reviews

Gardeners who have shamrock lawns say that "porridge" is better than special lawn grass, which is expensive and requires a lot of maintenance.

Alexander: “The lawn with white creeping clover is “indestructible”. You can drive a car on it, you can not mow it. ”

Some gardeners like that clover got rid of dandelions. But at the same time, they warn that walking barefoot on the lawn should be done carefully, because the shamrock attracts bees like a magnet.

And if a sheet with four plates comes across, happiness and good luck await.

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