Plant of the Week: Clover

“In the clover” should make a comeback as a favorite phrase as it once was worldwide. Then things got city grassy.

Losing the connection of man to Earth is frequently blamed on a host of factors, especially lately, electronic devices and their infection on our society. Add in the dominant population worldwide experience of life being in cities and it is easy to understand some of the oddest obsessions and wasteful spending revolve around grass.

My hometown has spent over $20 million collecting leaves and shipping them to facilities that turn them into nutrient rich soils that we then purchase back. In a normal world this would seem to be and is the opposite of being “in the clover.” The pastoral landscape preferred by browsing cows and their buddies worldwide is dominated by clover. City slickers headed to the suburbs and exurbs dream and act on grass dreams. The phrase now means you have enough money to think you are at the point where a pristine grass section of your property is the emblem of success. Dare not a leaf blemish the status symbol, put the two together and we have the opposite of Garden Planning we have the lowly expensive enterprise, lawn planning.

Garden Planning should end with a known Maintenance Plan. Centuries of successful gardens include the test of longevity. Frequently successful gardens far outlast their creators. Key to that purchase of the future is the ability of a succession of custodians to know, understand and manage this ground based art. Landscape Architecture is the only profession in the three dimensional world that is truly judged by the fourth dimension. Architecture, a mere 3D art form, consumes a smaller portion of the site as distance from the city increases, in many cases. Larger properties provide garden opportunities that should be thought of as a series of Gardens and Outdoor Rooms. Including a Turf Garden can be the spot for fun sports activity and open sunny portion of the site. Turf Garden = LAWN.

This critical part of Garden Planning plays itself out for years and in some cases decades. Maintenance has become a saying and naming of a trade that does not include the word Gardening.

Hire a gardener. Yourself or a person you know and communicate regularly with one subject in focus, your Garden. Youngsters who have not gone to college yet are a great resource. Many self-labeled “environmentalists” who are still in school are a great labor pool. College age people will take the challenge to help you and learn and commit. Gardening is experience that benefits the process and the participants. Professional gardeners were the norm until lawns really caught on. Now nearly anonymous crews take care of most properties. Any property over an acre can justify the time commitment of an 8-hour day once a week. Hiring someone with a long or mid-term commitment contract or understanding for that is similar to a crew of 4 sweeping in each week. The breadth of opportunity in many gardens is amazing. Understanding your special parcel is as special as hiring cleaning personnel for the indoors part of your home. Sometimes the two are accomplished by the same person.

Honeybees have a favorite plant CLOVER. They yell that to each other when they come upon a patch. Well managed clover areas can be easy to maintain by mowing rarely more than twice a month in the most heavily populated Plant Zone Areas 5, 6 and 7 in the United States. Zones were created to measure the coldest normal temperatures each year. These zones have minimum temperatures of 0 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, respectfully. The lower the zone number, the lower the temperature. Zone 10 means it is never below freezing or 32 degrees. The Arctic and Antarctic are Zone 1 wannabies but the coldest is Zone 2. Clover grows in all zones. With almost 300 varieties fun can include finding the happiest set of cousins to grow in your garden. Bumblebee decline has gotten some attention lately, not quite as much as the noise of and about leaf blowers. Hiring a gardener to maintain your property who understands it and nurtures your Clover Collection Garden will make bees and ears happy.

Clover thoughts include the chance at a 4 leaf. This amazing fact is Clover can have up to 21 leaves and 4 is more common than 3. Add in the Nitrogen fixing properties of the plant and you will know growing them requires less fertilizer each year to the point of no need. Perhaps the most understood plant is the least understood. Easily started from seed try some and be prepared for FUN.

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By Peter F. Alexander, Landscape Architect Planner

A traditional practicing professional who designs and accomplishes projects from Perennial Gardens to Regional Planning. Inspired by Norman Newton, Peter Goldmark and Michael Everett he is dedicated to restore Landscape Architecture as the primary effort by mankind to plan for the future. Insisting on inclusion of fun and positive conclusions for all is the base. Copies of the book can be made available by contacting pfalexla@gmail.com a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the By River Parks Foundation.