How to Mow Clover

Clover can take over if it is not properly maintained.

There are many types of clover, ranging from ladino clover to red clover. The frequency with which you have to mow clover, and the ideal length, can vary, depending on the type of clover planted. However, clover left unattended continues to propagate on its own and can eventually take over an area. Properly maintaining a clover field ensures the wildlife in the area has a steady amount of clover to eat.

Things You'll Need

• Bunching attachment or swather

Instructions

Landino Clover

1. Allow ladino clover to grow until it reaches approximately 4 inches in height. Then allow livestock to graze the clover until early fall. During times of grazing, mowing is not necessary. The livestock will keep the levels of clover to adequate heights.

2. Remove large weeds from the clover. Large weeds can choke out clover and overtake an area. This reduces seed production and the propagation of next year's clover. Allow the clover to grow for the remainder of the fall. It will go dormant during winter and then start growing again in spring.

3. Turn off irrigation to the clover in early April, allowing it to dry out for 10 to 14 days before mowing. This makes it easier to mow.

4. Cut the grass around the middle of April to collect the clover seed. The clover is ready for mowing when 90 percent of the visible heads are brown and you can thresh the heads when they are removed from the stem.

5. Mow the clover down to 4 inches with a mower equipped with a bunching attachment or a swather.

Red Clover

1. Mow red clover only during years when the clover offers a high yield of food production. Due to root rot, red clover acts a biennial, not a perennial. This means you can produce strong clover every other year, with weaker production in off years.

2. Allow grazing until late summer. Optimum food supply from red clover happens between five and 15 days after the clover blooms. Remove livestock from grazing after the animals remove the blooms from the clover.

3. Mow the clover to the ground between four and six weeks before the first frost. Use a standard mower without seed catching attachments, because the livestock will consume the seedlings.

References

• Oregon State University: Ladino Clover for Western Oregon; H. A. Schoth; November 1938
• Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education: Red Clover