Clover Everywhere

When I first started plotting nearly 20 years ago I was very dependent on white clover. It done very well and was super easy to get established and would thrive. I live in an area where there is zero row crops and very few people plant anything for deer. The closest alfalfa field I know of is nearly 25 miles away. Needless to say my little food plots are very attractive to deer at certain times of the year.

Now I haven't seeded clover in at least 15 years but I still have some very nice plots of clover. I guess that I have a very good seed bank stored in the ground from my first few years of planting. Four years ago I had a plot that was pretty much nothing but weeds with lots of Horsenettle and Passion Fruit mosly in the lower half. I went in and sprayed half the plot with Roundup then spread Rye that fall and cut the weeds. I was very surprised the next spring when I went to mow the Rye and had one of the best stands of Clover I had ever seen. Another positive was no Horsenettle or Passion Fruit returned. I think the Rye was the reason for that.

Two years ago I plowed the other half of the plot and planted it in wheat. It done very well and was the best at drawing deer that I have had on my place. I let the wheat go the next spring with intentions of planting wheat again with the throw and mow method. I noticed a little bit of clover growing at that time and thought that was a nice bonus. I planted my wheat that fall with no spraying of Round up and it did pretty good. Not near as good as the year before but it fed plenty of deer. Now I again have a great stand of Clover that looks like that is what I was intending to grow.

I am going to plant half that field to wheat again this fall probably by Spraying with Glysofate and broadcasting into the Clover. I imagine that the clover will not totally die but will be stunted enough to let the WW grow.

Lets hear some of your stories of how easy or difficult clover is for you.
 
Clover's the king of my food plots. But, it doesn't persist. My plots are on marginal ,less than well drained, soil. The spring season can be ideal...or wet. Summer's have been hot and dry lately. Fall's a crap shoot. It's dry unless a tropical storm or two or a hurricane dumps a lot of water on us. The clover (ladino mostly) will tolerate some standing water, but any dryland plant will starve for oxygen if its wet for too long. The other thing, weeds. Most are manageable, but Pennsylvania Smartweed thrives and spreads in swamplike conditions. It's a killer. It's thick and will outcompete most anything. There are herbicies to control it - anything with ammonium salt of imazamox -- Raptor, Clearcast. It's cheap per acre, but expensive in the quantity one's is able to buy. And, it's just food plots so, I take what it get,
 
It is hard to beat clover. One tough plant.

I have a lot of passion flower at my place. Beautiful flower but ugly plant. I have found it to be very invasive and very resistant to gly. The only way I have been able to control it is by tilling and then smothering it out with a rye/clover planting.
 
It is hard to beat clover. One tough plant.

I have a lot of passion flower at my place. Beautiful flower but ugly plant. I have found it to be very invasive and very resistant to gly. The only way I have been able to control it is by tilling and then smothering it out with a rye/clover planting.

Passion flower is fairly thick this year in my clover. I remember seeing a little last year. Sprayed raptor a few weeks ago and it didn't do anything to the passion flower. It's not a listed weed in the label, I discovered later.

One of our plots of durana is 6 years old now and still going strong. We originally planted WW and AWP with it to get it going. I'm pretty sure we'll always have some Durana because of how well it performs. I've never planted chicory with it but will this fall. The Durana usually goes dormant this time of year. But we have several acres of soybeans so that's not usually a problem. This year, though, due to tractor problems I was only able to plant 2 acres of beans and they were planted late and probably won't get very big due to deer eating them.
 
After planting the Rye on the plot that had the passion flower it has not returned. Same with the Horsenettle. I really thought I would be battling that stuff for years but that has not happened.
I also use Durana some and it does well. Most of the clover I have now I imagine came from my first plantings of Whitetail Institute stuff. My main plot was dozed out of woods so I doubt there was much clover there before.
My place is in Southern Mo. and my clover normally goes dormant also but it's doing good this year. I've been missing all the little pop up storms the last week but there is a better chance all of next week.

I
 
This is a clover and chicory plot I put in last spring, I did this with my quad and the ground hog max (before I got the kubota )



I planted Regal Graze Ladino clover mixed with chicory. This is what it looked like in late July same year



What it lools like now after a mowing. One of the easiest plots I've done and deer love it



 
Ladino clover is my favorite - then medium red for different places and reasons. Your ladino plot looks exceptional!
 
In the deep south, for me, clover is King. I always plant a mix of reseeding crimson, arrowleaf and medium red and even though we are in drought conditions right now, the medium red clover is still feeding the deer. I'm hoping it will last another 30 days, but we will see. My 8 year old Durana is dormant right now, but it still plays an important role, for me.
 
John, beautiful clover plot. Once established and with a little maintenance the ladino can give you a long lasting plot.
 
I have had really good luck with clovers, and even having the deer stay in it through December in Illinois! A question I have is the what where and whys of different types of clovers. I was always raised white for deer red for hay crops, but I'm seeing a lot of different ideas on this lately.
 
I am the same way in that I have only planted white but just don't know much about the reds. Maybe someone that knows about planting red clover will chime in.
 
Red clover is a work horse. Not as long lived as white but a heavy reseeding clover. When the white goes into summer dormancy the red is still going strong. A great compliment with ladino.
 
For me, in the deep south, a fall planted mix of reseeding crimson will germinate quickly and feed deer from the fall, thru April. Adding in Arrowleaf clover, extends that food thru June and my deep rooted medium red hopefully will carry me into August. That mix, along with a cereal grain, feeds my deer from October 1, thru hopefully mid August. I've not had to spend money on spring planting, nor did I have to spray. Since the ground wasn't worked up, my deer had continuous food. At no time did I have to fence the plots off to keep the deer out and during all that time, the deer had a good source for protein at "the time" of the year, they needed it. It's not perfect, but it's close. I add in peas and radishes to that mix as well.
 
I have had really good luck with clovers, and even having the deer stay in it through December in Illinois! A question I have is the what where and whys of different types of clovers. I was always raised white for deer red for hay crops, but I'm seeing a lot of different ideas on this lately.

In my experience, for cattle and for whitetails, white clover can't be beat. Once it's established it goes on for years (except on my place!!). It's not much for a hay crop. All the whites tend to be realatively short compared to other clovers. The reds are far superior from a yield perspective. But, reds are grazing intolerant and are short-lived.
I throw some crimson down in the fall, mixed with rye, oats, other clovers, peas. I like it as part of a blend.

Then, I think there are clovers that fit into less than spectacular growing conditions. Alsike is drought and flood tolerant and doesn't seem to mind an acid soil. It's not something you'd plant without something else. It's a good way to hedge you bet.

Yellow and white sweet clovers are good in low fertility plots, but need a pH on the right side of 6. These are biennials. Two years and they are gone. Again, mix these with something else.

Someday I'm going to plant some Beersem Clover on the worst possible ground I can find. It's an annual and I believe its not really a clover. But, it's supposed to be a producer.
 
For me, in the deep south, a fall planted mix of reseeding crimson will germinate quickly and feed deer from the fall, thru April. Adding in Arrowleaf clover, extends that food thru June and my deep rooted medium red hopefully will carry me into August. That mix, along with a cereal grain, feeds my deer from October 1, thru hopefully mid August. I've not had to spend money on spring planting, nor did I have to spray. Since the ground wasn't worked up, my deer had continuous food. At no time did I have to fence the plots off to keep the deer out and during all that time, the deer had a good source for protein at "the time" of the year, they needed it. It's not perfect, but it's close. I add in peas and radishes to that mix as well.

What's your mix? In in SC. I will be planting two new plots this year, 3/4 and half acre. Sandy loamy soil. My neighbor has a good stand of white that grows well. I will be adding chicory to the mix and probably oats.
 
I plant:
40 lbs of oats
8 lbs of crimson
8 lbs of arrowleaf
8 lbs of medium red
2 lbs of daikon radish
And 10 - 20 lbs of peas
 
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