Question
Hi,

I am also on Long Island and we have had alot of problems maintaining an attractive lawn.  We have alot of thatch, areas that are always bare and yellow spots (we have a dog who goes out in the backyard at least a couple of times daily).

I was reading about clover as an alternative to grass and was wondering how you feel about this.  It seems easier to maintain and it seems that the thatch problem and spot problem would be eliminated.

My concern is about bees.  Would they be an insurmountable issue if we had clover?

Also, what would be the best way to make this change?  We do have a gardener.  

Answer
There are many alternatives to the all American Lawn, but this does not have to be your only solution.  Your Dog for example, and his friends and playmates, will do a hatchet job on many of these alternative groundcovers.

Your problem probably lies in your Soil and your gardener's growing techniques.  Take this bull by the horns and set up a good Grass maintenance program.

Step 1 is a Soil Test.  Scientists at Cornell Cooperative Extension will test your Soil for a song and mail you the results.  Supervise your gardener while he takes the sample for you and give your gardener an education.  You'll be doing him a favor.  When this is done a few months from now, your Grass will be gorgeous:

http://www.css.cornell.edu/soiltest/soil_testing/test_types/home_gardens.asp

Traditional gardeners -- 99.7 percent of the country last I heard -- use techniques we learned 100 years ago to grow Grass.  Today we know that when our Soil generates nutrients, our Grass grows better.  Although a force-feeding of Scotts Urea concentrated Nitrogen will 'brighten up' blades for several hours, it's not good for the Grass, and it's not good for the microbes in the Soil.  ALL CONCENTRATED FERTILIZER IS SALTS.  You have at least a vague idea that this is not going to bode well for anything that's living down there.  Organic 'fertilizers' build up your soil and make the same microbes big, strong and productive.  Odds are, you don't have very many down there, and the ones you have are weak.  The microbes population is not sufficient enough to effectively break down your Thatch, so it builds up, and up, and up.

Clover is a WONDERFUL companion plant for Grass.  People used to include it in premium Lawn mixes all the time back in the 1950s.  Then the Scotts Company began pushing their new broadleaf Weedkillers, 'educating' homeowners on how to grow Grass.  Those Weedkillers could not tell the difference between Clover and Dandelions.  But why apologize for that?  Tell the public Clover is a Weed, and they'll be GLAD to get rid of them.  And that's why I get questions now and then from people who can't seem to completely eliminate all traces of Clover from their Lawns, as though this was BAD!

Fact is, Clover -- as you probably have heard many times by now -- fixes Nitrogen.  It takes N out of the air, fiddles with it, and pumps it into the Soil.  Hard to believe, and absolutely true.  How can you not love Clover?  And why would you ever want to get rid of it just so you can have the annual task of spreading Urea based N on your Soil?

I'll bet your gardener collects Grass clippings.  Am I right?

I'll bet your gardener rakes up leaves, fertilizes on schedule, puts down Weedkiller every year, treats for Grubs just in case, and blames those bare and Yellow spots on your poor Dog.  Rover's calling cards may not be good for small spots of Lawn, but you probably have bare areas because your gardener is killing your Grass with all that treatment.

Stop using all those things and get your Grass tested.  Cornell will tell you what your Soil needs to grow beautiful Grass.  Because no one on the planet can grow great Grass unless the soil it is growing in is first rate.

If you want to pursue the Clover idea, let me know and I will give you the whole speech.  When I'm done, you'll change your mind.  But I'm glad to do it.  Just ask.  Thanks for writing.