Taiji
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Question about overwintering clover

For anyone who has overwintered clover, does this look normal? Is this just a dormant stage and will it green up again come spring, or is there something wrong with this bed?

Lowest temp so far has been 16 degrees, but has been frosting and freezing every night for a long time.
clover.JPG

ButterflyLady29
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Clover, as in white Dutch clover? If so, yes it's normal. Pretty much what most of my yard looks like after a few weeks of below freezing temps without snow cover. Snow cover keeps it green longer but it still ends up sad and brown before spring.

bri80
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Is the ground frozen? Looks like dry-frozen to me. I live in a wet winter climate where the soil doesn't usually freeze even if the air temp is cold, so my clover always has plenty of water coming to the leaves even in freezing weather and stays green all winter long.

But in a dry-freeze type of situation where the ground may be freezing too, I'd imagine it looking like that.

Taiji
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ButterflyLady29 wrote:Clover, as in white Dutch clover? If so, yes it's normal. Pretty much what most of my yard looks like after a few weeks of below freezing temps without snow cover. Snow cover keeps it green longer but it still ends up sad and brown before spring.
Thanks! I should have said this clover is yellow clover. But when spring comes does it green up again and resume growing?

For bri80: "Is the ground frozen?" Well, yes and no. Right now the ground may be freezing at night but only to a depth of maybe an inch. But, the next day it usually thaws out. Here we have quite a disparity between daytime and night time temps.

This is a small bed I created last spring but I never grew vegetables there yet. My first crop was buckwheat that I dug under; then planted black eyed peas that I dug under; and finally this yellow clover. Hope to grow a corn crop there next year!

ButterflyLady29
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I'm not real sure about the yellow clover. I planted the dutch white in my yard. All my neighbors were sure I was a bit crazy since most people try to kill the clover in their yard. But if it is perennial it will come back. Even the big red clover dies to the ground once the weather turns cold.

Taiji
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The yellow clover is a biennial I think. But, it has not bloomed yet. From what you say, I'm thinking it will probably come back, so I will leave it til spring. Thanks for your help!

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jal_ut
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Just curious, what do you do with the Yellow Clover?

I have White Dutch growing in the lawn. We plant it with the grass when we plant the lawn. The clover is said to add some nitrogen to the soil to make the grass grow better.

Taiji
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I just use the yellow clover as a winter cover crop to turn in next spring to enrich the soil with nitrogen and organic matter 2 or 3 weeks before planting stuff in that bed. The reason I used yellow is because that is what is available around here at the few farm stores that we have. I did get some crimson clover through the mail a few weeks ago for the same purpose; just wanted to try a different kind. So, some of my beds have crimson clover on them. :)

And, some have winter rye, and some have annual rye. But, right now, all beds are under 8 inches of new snow with the Christmas eve snowstorm!



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