White Clover
Broadleaf weed
White clover (Trifolium repens) is a low-growing perennial legume found in lawns, pastures, and gardens across the United States. Gardeners and growers notice it because it spreads into a dense mat, stays green during dry spells, and draws heavy bee traffic when it blooms. Opinions on it are split: some welcome it for the nitrogen it adds to the soil, while others treat it as an unwanted invader of manicured turf.
How to identify it
Look for leaves made up of three rounded leaflets, each often marked with a pale, light-green or whitish crescent, or watermark. The plant hugs the ground and creeps outward on horizontal stems, called stolons, that root at the nodes as they travel. Flowers are rounded, globe-shaped heads about a half inch to one inch across, white to slightly pinkish, held on their own upright stalks above the foliage. Individual plants stay short, usually only a few inches tall, but a single plant can blanket a wide patch.
Where it grows
White clover grows best in cool, moist conditions and thrives in lawns, pasture, orchard floors, roadsides, and any disturbed or compacted soil. It is especially common where turf is thin, mowed low, or short on nitrogen, and it tends to expand during the cool, damp parts of spring and fall. It spreads two ways: by seed, which can stay viable in the soil for years, and by creeping stolons that root as they run, letting a single plant colonize a large area over time.
Why it is a problem
In fine turf and formal lawns, white clover competes with grass for space and light, breaks up a uniform look, and leaves slick spots that can be slippery when wet. Its blooms are highly attractive to honey bees and bumble bees, so a clover-filled lawn raises the odds of stings for people walking barefoot or children playing on the grass. Because it roots along its stolons and reseeds freely, a small patch can quickly widen into a persistent stand.
How to manage it
The most reliable long-term control is a dense, vigorous, well-fed lawn, since clover moves in mainly where turf is thin, hungry for nitrogen, or mowed too short; keeping grass thick and mowing at a taller height shades out new seedlings. Small infestations can be pulled or dug by hand, and the job is easiest when the soil is moist so the rooted stolons lift out in one piece. A layer of mulch in garden beds smothers seedlings and blocks the light clover needs to establish. Correcting compaction, improving drainage, overseeding bare spots, and returning grass clippings to feed the lawn all tilt the balance back toward the turf and away from clover.
Commonly confused with
White clover is easily confused with other clovers such as red clover, which is taller with pink to reddish flowers, and with black medic and oxalis (wood sorrel), whose leaves also have three leaflets. A close look helps: oxalis leaflets are heart-shaped and its flowers are yellow, while black medic has small yellow flower clusters, neither of which matches white clover's rounded leaflets and white bloom heads.
General guidance for US lawns and gardens, focused on prevention and non-chemical control. For a confirmed identification and options specific to your area, contact your local Cooperative Extension office. Page updated Aug 4, 2026.