Thoughts on white clover paths?

[journey11]

Anybody using white clover as a cover crop or pathway in their garden?

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/managing-garden-paths-zbcz1507.aspx

With the rainy summer pattern we've been stuck in the past few years, I think I'm going to need to rethink how I'm doing things. All of that bare ground is so full of weed seeds, seeds that can remain viable for decades and come back in force if I don't have something already growing there. And here I can't get in there to plant anything or hoe or do anything about it. I am going to have to weed-eat the garden when I do get in there...soon, hopefully!

I've been thinking about having permanent rows and paths and not walking on the soil I need to plant in. It would give me better access to my garden despite the weather and keep the mud off of of my shoes. My thought was to have permanently mulched paths, but the article above got me thinking why not clover? My only experience with white clover is that it takes over everywhere. My lawn is full of clover, which I don't mind since my bees like it, but do you think it would be a terror in the garden and take over like an invasive weed? I'm kind of afraid to do that, but it is a legume, so maybe it would be worth it. Is it hard to control?

 

[majorcatfish]

3-4' wide 10" high raised beds made out of landscape brick with a 3' wide path between them with landscape cloth put down with 4" covering of granite dust with a solar power zoned watering system...
squirrel.... what were we talking about again.

truth be told that is my dream vegetable garden

 

[journey11]

I love my raised beds, but it costs me too much to fill them, as many as I really need.

I've put a lot of work into amending the soil in my main garden. I think the clover paths would help keep all the good stuff from eroding with the rain. There is a slight slope to my garden and it gets little gullies washed out sometimes.

 

[majorcatfish]

clover is a invasive weed

 

[Smart Red]

I just mowed my lawn after having that broken garden tractor replaced. I should have taken before/after photos so you could enjoy seeing all the clover heads that are missing in the after shot.

Clover is invasive. Not only will the seed spread, but it grows by rhizomes running under the soil into your garden beds. IF (and that's a big if) you could put a barrier between your garden spaces and your rows; and if you could manage to collect all the clover heads or mow before the clover goes to seed; you might get away with using it as a path covering, but I wouldn't recommend it.

There must be something that would work without taking over the garden, but I haven't found it yet. My beds have grasses, weeds, and clover between them. Since the beds are all raised, I have only had to remove tiny seedlings rather than spreading adult plants.

 

[so lucky]

The best thing I have found to use anywhere I don't want weeds/grass to grow is to use layers of newspaper on the ground, then cover with straw or pine needles. It lasts all year, sometimes longer, if thicker layers of newspaper are used . I pretty much have permanent paths in the garden.

 

[journey11]

The article's author specifically talked about using dutch white clover, but she didn't give any real insight as to how that worked out or what management it required. I know it can spread by the roots, which is what concerns me too. I think I heard someone on here talk about cover cropping with clover. Hoping they will chime in... I am wondering how well tilling can control it in the garden if I planted that much. I've not had any real trouble with it creeping into my garden from the perimeter of the lawn, but I do have to round-up the perimeter from time to time to keep the quackgrass out which sure does make a concerted effort to invade. I am hoping the clover might even be dense enough to keep the quackgrass out? But I want to be sure it wouldn't just make things worse.

I have been using cardboard and straw to mulch the garden and it is very effective at keeping the weeds back. But what interests me about using a living mulch is that it won't hold excessive moisture in the soil. With the amounts of rainfall we are getting, I find the straw and cardboard tends to get boggy and stagnant and I have stepped on it and have gone sliding because it was so wet underneath. If things could dry out regularly in between, it was otherwise a very good solution. But maybe a living mulch would be less work, other than running the mower over it once a week perhaps.

 

[thistlebloom]

Journey, I think it's a good idea, since you already know it's potential for spreading you can be on top of it. My lawn is full of DWC too and it gets into my perennial bed, but I don't find it difficult to pull. It's not as aggressive as a lot of stuff that I have actually planted in my beds and am now attempting to get rid of. Like the 5 types of lamium I loved 10 years ago and am now so over.

I have a half moon edger that I cut the border of the lawn back from my beds once a year. Our soils and climates are very different of course, but I would give it a try.

Maybe you could use it experimentally in a row or two, and then do as So Lucky suggested and mulch the other aisles with cardboard and straw. I think permanent beds are best because you are concentrating your compost and other goodies only on the soil you're growing on. Plus no walking on the beds help keep them light.

Oh, I see you already are using mulch in the paths...so you already know how that works for you.

 

[Beekissed]

I've used it for years and loved it every single time. Just plowed a row only and left the clover in place and every couple years I switched it up and plowed the paths instead. Each fall I replanted the plowed rows to clover.

I've never had any problems with it being invasive to the garden plants, as the plants themselves were mulched with hay. Makes for a clean garden, less weeds, low tillage, attracts honey bees to the garden, when you run the mower through it the clover clippings are thrown up on the rows to be green mulch.

Helps retain the moisture, good habitat for beneficial bugs and earthworms, nitrogen fixing legume, good fall forage for my chickens. Love the clover! I'd still be using this method if I didn't need to improve the soils in this garden so badly.

 

[thistlebloom]

I love that information Bee! I'm tempted to use it in my gardens next year. I have a bag of DWC that I was going to overseed on the lawn this fall...