Trifolium Repens - As An Invasive Weed

As An Invasive Weed

Before the introduction of broad-leaf herbicides, white clover was more often added to lawn seed mixes than it is today, as it is able to grow and provide green cover in poorer soils where turfgrasses do not perform well. Many people consider clover a weed when growing in lawns, in part because the flowers are attractive to bees and thus could create a danger for people with bare feet.

White clover is the only known plant on which the caterpillars of the Coleophoridae case-bearer moth Coleophora mayrella feed.

In Britain, a high abundance of white clover is generally associated with species-poor, agriculturally improved grassland habitats, as it outcompetes the more rare plants and grasses especially in fertile soils, and has often been added as part of reseeding. Agri-environment schemes, such as the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme, and Environmental Stewardship, give funding to species-rich grasslands that are relatively infertile and do not generally have an abundance of white clover. However, white clover does have value as a pollen and nectar source particularly in intensively farmed areas or amenity grasslands where there are few other flowers, and it can be found naturally at low levels in species-rich grasslands..