Organic White Clover - Green Fertiliser - Ferme de Sainte Marthe seeds

White Clover (Trifolium repens) is a perennial legume cultivated as a forage plant and as a spring green manure. Like all legumes, it has the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil while protecting it from rain leaching. It can be sown in any soil from March to May, at a rate of 100 grams per 50 m2.

White Clover, also known as Dutch Clover or Creeping Clover, is a very common herbaceous plant. It naturally grows in meadows and lawns and spreads through stolons that can reach up to 40 cm (16in) in length. Its leaves, characteristic of the species, are usually compound with 3 leaflets, but statistically, one leaf in 10,000 will have 4 leaflets! Flowering of White Clover occurs from April-May to September, in the form of spherical white heads, sometimes slightly pink. They are highly appreciated by bees and bumblebees.

Widely used in permaculture, green manures have numerous benefits: they enrich and loosen the soil while preventing the establishment of adventive plants. They also have the advantage of providing a vegetative cover that protects clay soils from rain compaction and sandy soils from leaching. They can be sown throughout the year, and are usually mowed before seed set to incorporate them through shallow digging or left in place as mulch.

White Clover is sown from March to May, and remains in place for at least 3 months before it should be mowed before flowering. Do not let it establish for too long, as it can become quite difficult to eliminate.