Anchorage Daily News

There is nothing like a good inch of rain all at once to perk up a thirsty Southcentral lawn. Ours went crazy, and so did lawns all over. All of a sudden they are as green as can be, helped not only by the rain but also, much to our chagrin, by the cool weather.

I suppose it's all the green in the lawns these days that has prompted an extraordinary amount of concern over the appearance of white clover. Concerns about clover seem to be at the top of the list of questions I have been getting lately. People have it in their lawns, but some don't want it there because it is not "grass."

I will tell you right at the start -- and before the lecture -- that getting rid of clover without chemicals is extremely difficult. I will also tell you that using chemicals is not an option. Your best bet is pulling remnants of clover tap roots by hand, but only after a lot of hard work with a thatching rake. This is an easy solution for those newly forming patches but a bit more of a challenge for those who have large areas of the lawn consumed by clover.

Since thatching a lawn is usually not necessary if there is a healthy food web in the soil, many readers may not know what a thatch rake is or how to use it. These are wicked-looking rakes with half-moon-shaped blades instead of normal rake tines. You put some weight on one of these puppies and pull it through the lawn, and it will claw up much of the low-growing clover. Pull in several directions and you will get much of the above-ground clover out.

This can take a bit of effort, but if you want to reduce or eliminate a patch, it is the way to go.

Next comes the hands-and-knees part, in which you get roots by pulling on the remaining plant stems. A little hand cultivator or dandelion fork might come in handy. While you do this, think about the next step, which is to get the lawn growing so it is thick and healthy and outcompetes, at least for a while, any clover that grows back. Soybean meal or Arctic Gro Natural, water and aeration help in that regard.

A much less time-consuming method is to use a weed eater and chew clover down to ground level, then try to get at the roots. This method makes interesting crop circles in your lawn. These are not permanent solutions, nor are heat from a propane weed killer, low mowing or the use of burnout.

Obviously, the earlier you get to clover when it appears in a lawn, the easier it is going to be to control. In addition, know that clover seed can sit for 20 years before germinating, so mowing to keep flowers from maturing is always a good idea if clover concerns you.

Now that I've given you the ultimate solution to problematic clover, please consider that for years we have been brainwashed to believe that clover did not belong in lawns. By "we" I mean garden writers as well as lawn owners, and I can assure you I am at the top of both lists when it comes to buying the talk.

Apparently, none of us is old enough to remember when clover was an integral part of lawn seed mixes, with up to 20 percent of the mix consisting of clover. This was before dandelion-killing chemicals were introduced. Turns out those products killed clover and other broad-leaved plants too, so dandelion poison became "broadleaf weed killer" and the campaign against clover was born and promoted for the past 50 years or so.

These days, more and more people realize that a healthy lawn is one that has clover. This realization didn't come easy to me, so effective was the brainwash. I suspect many of you are still suffering from its impact. How much clover you want in your lawn is up to you.

There should be no debate, however, that spraying your lawn or otherwise napalming it with a broadleaf weed killer is not acceptable.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at www.gardenerjeff.com or by joining the "Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR 700 AM.

Garden calendar

• VEGGIES: Harvest when ripe, not at the end of the season.

• REMULCH BEDS: Green mulch for annuals, brown mulches for perennials.

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