Roger Swain Pushes Clover

ROGER SWAIN, Known as "The Man in the Red Suspenders," was the host of "The Victory Garden" on PBS for 15 years, becoming America's most popular male gardening personality. Biologist, gardener, writer and storyteller, Mr Swain graduated from Harvard College, went on to earn a Ph.D, and studied the behavior of ants in tropical rain forests, before becoming science editor of Horticulture magazine.

So sayeth the HGTV website about the co-host of "People, Places and Plants," a recent addition to my weekend gardening show line-up.  Gee, and I thought he was just this absurdly geeky gardening guy.  Glad to know he has actual qualifications, something all the pundits are suddenly talking about, what with the apparent shortage of them in D.C.

Anyway, Roger had lots of interesting things to say about clover in this week's show.  For starters, it's more drought-resistant than grass, so he's got my attention right there.  It's a boon to honeybees, whose clover honey sounds mighty tasty.  And most interesting of all, clover leaves are "tiny little fertilizer factories," meaning they convert nitrogen into a usable form, and there's no need to fertilize any lawn that's rich in clover.

Apparently 75 years ago lawns were a healthy mix of grass and clover, so what happened to all the clover since then?  Killed off by our broadleaf weed-killers.  And the solution is:  Get on your knees and pluck the dandelions by hand, you lazy bums.  Roger didn't call us lazy bums, of course, but we know he's no fan of herbicides and other so-called advancements in science.

As a gardener who's just recently welcomed clover back into her lawn, I can report loving everything about it - including occasional disapproval from people who consider it a weed - except having to step carefully when it's in bloom and I'm shoeless.  So I have to be more mindful, but nowadays we think that's a good thing, right?  So Roger can be my gardening geek any day, and I'll stay tuned for his next morsel of enlightened advice.

Comments

[sandy]

Doesn't everybody weed dandelions in the lawn by hand?

[Catherine]

I was told that if I had clover in my lawn I was incredbily lucky and that I was doing something right. According to the farmer I was talking to - conditions have to be right for it to grow. Find that difficult to beleive cause it's everywhere. Must admit I don't mind it, but hate the bees that are attacted to it and am terrified the kids will get stung. Ahhh well, can't have everything. Catherine Australia.

[Susan]

Sandy, I think you found a flaw in Roger's argument. To wit: has clover been killed by herbicides or have we stopped adding to our lawn seed mix? I actually bought a bag and spread it everywhere.
And Catherine in Victoria - welcome!

[Sandy]

I agree with Cathrine about bees and children. I would prefer not to have it in my lawn. I also hand weed clover.

[Ed Bruske]

I would take issue with the suggestion that clover leaves convert nitrogen into a usable form. Being a leguminous plant, clover forms symbiotic relationships with certain bacteria that covert gaseous nitrogen in the soil into a form that can be taken up by plant roots. The nitrogen is stored in nodules that form on the plant roots. This is why it is so often suggested that fallowed farm land be planted in clover, or alfalfa, or fava beans--they are all legumes, and experience the same nitrogen-producing relationship with bacteria in the root zones. The leaves, alas, are still used for breathing and gathering sunshine.