Hey everyone!

I seeded my garden this year with white clover as a ground cover since this is probably my last year here, that way the cover will take over nicely instead of leaving a big dirt plot behind (I know no one will take care of it after me, and I'm taking my perennials with me, that's why).

I have tons of seed left, and was wondering, wouldn't it be very beneficial to citrus to have clover growing the pot? Not only would it look nice, but wouldn't the nitrogen fixing properties of the clover give it an extra zing of N from the atmosphere?

Just wondering if anyone has tried this or heard of whether there's a significant benefit or not....

Take care!

Hi Gen, it has been a while from your last post. Legumes such as white clover, are capable of extracting nitrogen from the air and converting it to a usable form of nitrogen,. Clover collects nitrogen in nodules in its root system. However, I don't believe it is available to other non-legumes unless the clover is killed and degrades through common agricultural systems such as tilling the clover crop under. We grow yellow clover here on the farm as a cover crop, which is turned under as a green manure. However, if the clover in the citrus container is alive and growing, I do not think its nitrogen is available to the citrus tree. - Millet

Hi,
I agree whole-heartedly with Millet. In fact when we lived in WI clover would creep into the garden and actually choke off some of my plants. Clover has pretty long roots that can wrap around other plants roots. Probably wouldn't bother a ground-planted citrus, but why give the nutrients in your potted soil to a weed....?
Susan

Hi Millet, Ive been really busy with the job being rather new still, not to mention many more computer problems. Things are somewhat fixed now.

I wasn't really sure if it would make it available to the citrus or not. Thanks!

Hello Susan, very good point about giving the nutrients to the clover instead of my plant.


With those answers, I will definitely not be seeding clover! Thank you!