It may not have rained much this winter, but I received a flood of emails in response to a recent column on the water-saving virtues of clover when used for either lawn replacement or lawn enhancement.

It must be restated that clover does not hold up well to foot traffic so substituting it for a lawn means you will enjoy the look of it, its resistance to drought, weeds, and dog urine, and its welcoming presence where pollinating bees are concerned. However, you will not want to play badminton or croquet on it.

The expense of taking out an existing lawn is considerable, which is a good argument for enhancing it with clover as opposed to ripping it out and planting a clover monoculture in its place. That being said, if you are thinking about installing a lawn on bare ground that will only need once a week watering but still withstand foot traffic, consider a seed mixture that contains microclover, RTF (rhizomatous tall fescue) and perennial rye. You can find such a mixture courtesy of ptlawnseed.com.

Speaking of overseeding, I received an email from Locke McFarland, who gardens in Santa Ana, asking about this procedure on a Bermuda grass lawn, while Stephen Picardi inquired about doing so on a St. Augustine lawn in Boca Raton, Florida. Bermuda and St. Augustine are known as warm season grasses since they grow in warm weather but go dormant when the weather turns cool. So clover, which is evergreen, would prevent warm season grass expanses from turning brown in the winter. It is also worth mentioning that St. Augustine is not as aggressive as Bermuda grass since the former spreads by above-ground stolons or runners alone while the latter spreads by both stolons and underground stems known as rhizomes.

Due to the aggressive growth of warm season grasses this time of year, it may be more difficult for clover to get a foothold than when these grasses go dormant. Keep in mind, however, that when we have a warm winter, the dormancy period of warm season grasses may be quite brief so that, in such a winter, you will need to be especially attentive when it comes to finding the right moment to do your overseeding.

Correspondent McFarland also mentions “ficus tree roots in part of the lawn a few inches down” and wonders about their compatibility with clover roots. Tree roots in lawns are a headache when they come to the surface, but as long as they remain underground, grass and clover can grow over them. Ficus roots, however, especially those of Indian laurel fig (Ficus microcarpa nitida), the species ubiquitously used for hedges and screens along property lines in Southern California, should never be planted in proximity to lawns (or, if you ask me, anywhere else) due to their highly aggressive roots that will eventually lift sidewalks, to say nothing of commandeering lawns and planter beds.

Finally, “Can you rake miniclover (without damaging it)?” McFarland asks. “The ficus tree drops quite a few leaves sporadically throughout the year.” Raking may cause decapitation or even deracination of some clover, but you should quickly recoup any losses through regeneration facilitated by the clover’s runners that will have invisibly taken root all along their considerable length.

Ryan Burns, who gardens in Lakewood, says he mows his Bermuda grass lawn twice a week and wonders if that would be too often if miniclover was growing in it. You can mow a miniclover-enhanced lawn as often as once a week. Frequent mowing encourages more tight-knit growth. I should mention here that clover also grows in somewhat shady spots as I recently saw it thriving under redwood trees in Roxbury Park, located on Olympic Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

Robin Dwyer emailed that “Like many Riverside residents I live alongside a canyon full of hungry bunnies. Should I assume they will eat the clover down to the ground like they do my grass?” It’s no secret that rabbits find clover much to their liking. The question is: “How much will they eat?” I would broadcast a pound of clover seed over 1000 square feet as an experiment. Some gardeners with vegetable or flower gardens plant clover as a decoy plant since rabbits would rather eat it than carrots or petunias and so their veggies and flowers are left intact. Speaking of which, some vegetable gardeners visited by rabbits hedge their gardens all around with lettuce, a rabbit favorite, so that vegetables on the other side of the lettuce barrier will be left alone.

Lisa Brown, who gardens in Santa RosaValley in Ventura County, wrote as follows: “I was wondering if you find miniclover to be more drought-tolerant than Kurapia, and if there are any other advantages to either of these?” She also mentions considering ‘UC Verde’ buffalo grass for an area that can withstand foot traffic.

Both clover and Kurapia, a groundcover with diminutive leaves, are not noted for handling heavy foot traffic. While they can accept moderate walking around on them, you would not turn an expanse of either one into a play area for kids. To replace a dichondra lawn that was decimated by flea beetles, Ronald Chong of Hacienda Heights planted a 600-square-foot area last November with 360 plugs of Kurapia at a cost of around $700. The Kurapia has filled in nicely. The variety of Kurapia he chose bears small pink flowers, but Chong notes that there is a white flowered variety available at a slightly lower cost. You can acquire Kurapia plugs with flowers of either color at kurapia.com.

As for buffalo grass, it is native to the North American plains. However, a professor of environmental horticulture at UC Davis succeeded in breeding a cultivar suitable for California yards. ‘UC Verde’ uses 75% less water than tall fescue and 40% less water than Bermuda grass. It can grow in full sun to 50% shade. If you want a natural meadow look, you can let it grow six inches tall, but you can also keep it as low as one inch tall by mowing it every two weeks during the growing season. It does experience winter dormancy and will go semi-brown during that season. You can cut it very low in November and overseed it with a cool season grass or, better yet, with wildflower seeds so that you have a colorful expanse to look at before it starts to green up again in warmer weather. Plugs are available at ucverdeplugs.com.

You might also wish to consider a seed mix called Fleur de Lawn, available through ptlawnseed.com. It includes English daisy, white yarrow, white clover, strawberry clover, sweet alyssum, baby blue eyes, as well as perennial rye and sheep fescue grasses. Mowed once a month, it grows to a height of five inches, but it can be kept at three inches for a more manicured look. The yarrow enables the mix to grow in dappled shade as well as sun.

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And as long as we are on the subject, dwarf carpet of stars (Ruschia lineolata ‘Nana’) is a succulent ground cover that grows two inches tall and serves as an evergreen lawn alternative that is tolerant of heavy foot traffic. White flowers with pink stripes bloom in late winter to early spring. Water use is up to 75% less than that of many turf varieties. Find carpet of stars plugs at californialawnalternatives.com.

If you have had success growing clover, Kurapia, buffalo grass, carpet of stars, or any other alternative to a conventional lawn, you are invited to share your story with readers of this column by emailing it to the address below.

Send questions, comments, and photos to [email protected].