Red Clover vs. White Clover

Clovers are leguminous plants that have a symbiotic relationship with soil-borne bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen. Nitrogen from the air transforms into a substance plants can use for food. Legumes such as clovers are useful for forage, wildlife and cover crops.

Red Clover

• Red clover is a tall, thick-stemmed variety of clover often used to attract, feed and shelter wildlife. The pinkish blooms are handsome in a wildflower area. Deer and rabbits feed on the nitrogen-rich leafy tips; mockingbirds and frogs use the undergrowth for shelter, while butterflies and bees graze on the nectar. Many beekeepers raise red clover specifically to make clover honey.

White Clover

• Low-growing white clover with companion grasses are used for grazing. pure white flower of hop-clover image by alri from Fotolia.com

  White clover is used as forage because it tolerates heavy grazing. If the pasture is not mowed or grazed regularly, other grasses and wildflowers tend to shade out the shorter-growing white clover. After the clover is grazed or mowed, the plant sheds roots, releasing nitrogen fixed in the roots to surrounding plants and improving the soil.

Considerations

• Clover are often used as cover crops between annual vegetable harvests or on the floor of orchards to help fix nitrogen and enrich the soil. In garden beds, till red clover under or add it to the compost pile before you plant annual vegetables or flowers. Use white clover in orchards, especially if you have low-grazing animals to fertilize the orchard, such as ducks, chickens, geese, rabbits or goats.