How to get rid of clover in your lawn (and stop it coming back)

Clover is one of the most common weeds in Australian lawns, and one of the most misunderstood. Most people spray it, watch it die back, and then watch it return a few months later. That is because killing the clover you can see is only half the job. Clover is not a random invader. It is a symptom, and unless you fix what it is telling you, it will keep coming back no matter how many times you spray.

How to know it is clover

White clover (Trifolium repens) is easy to identify once you know what to look for. Each leaf has 3 rounded leaflets, often marked with a pale crescent or V-shape across them. It grows low and spreads in dense mats by creeping stems that root wherever they touch the ground, which is how a single plant can cover a large area. In spring and through the warmer months it produces small white ball-shaped flower heads sitting just above the leaves.

The one weed clover is most often confused with is creeping oxalis. The quick way to tell them apart: clover has rounded leaflets and white flowers, while oxalis has heart-shaped leaflets with a notch at the tip and yellow flowers. Both are broadleaf weeds and both are controlled the same way, so if you are unsure, it does not change what you do next.

Why clover is growing in your lawn

This is the part that matters, and the part most advice skips. Clover is a legume, and like all legumes it makes its own nitrogen. It hosts bacteria on its roots that pull nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form the plant can use. That gives clover a decisive advantage in one specific situation: a lawn that is low on nitrogen.

Your grass depends on the nitrogen in the soil. When that runs low, the grass thins and slows. Clover does not care, because it is making its own. So in a hungry, underfed lawn, clover outcompetes the grass and spreads into the gaps. The presence of clover is one of the clearest signs a lawn is nitrogen-deficient. It is the lawn telling you it is underfed.

Clover is also favoured by a few other conditions worth knowing: compacted soil, which its deep taproot handles better than grass roots, consistently moist ground, and mowing too short, which weakens the grass and lets low-growing clover get the light it needs.

The two-part fix

Because clover is both a weed and a symptom, getting rid of it properly means doing 2 things: kill the clover that is there, and fix the nitrogen deficiency so it has no reason to return. Do only the first and you will be back spraying next season.

Kill the clover that is there

Bow and Arrow controls white clover, and clover is one of the weeds it acts on fastest. It is a selective broadleaf herbicide with 3 active ingredients across 2 modes of action, absorbed through the leaf and moved through the whole plant to the growing points, so it takes the creeping stems and roots rather than just burning off the top. That matters with clover, because a product that only scorches the surface leaves the runners to regrow.

The rate is 50ml per 100m2 in 2 to 5L of water through a garden or backpack sprayer. A 500ml bottle is $55 and treats 1,000m2. Apply while the clover is actively growing. Expect it to work over 4 to 6 weeks for a complete kill, faster on smaller plants. Do not mow for 3 to 4 days before or after spraying, and do not spray if rain is coming within 4 hours. From September onward, spray early morning or late afternoon, since MCPA can cause temporary discolouration in heat or on a lawn already under stress. It is safe on couch, zoysia, carpet grass and Queensland blue couch, and registered for buffalo, though some varieties including ST85 can show temporary discolouration, so test a small area first if you are unsure of your variety. Bow and Arrow is covered alongside the other broadleaf weeds in our broadleaf weed guide.

Fix the nitrogen so it stays gone

This is the step that actually keeps clover out. Raise the nitrogen in your lawn and you remove clover's entire advantage. Once the grass has the nitrogen it needs, it thickens up, outcompetes the clover for space and light, and the conditions that let clover establish are gone.

Surge delivers the nitrogen-led feed that drives dense grass growth, applied at 200ml per 100m2 as a foliar spray with 2 hours dwell before watering in. Underneath it, the soil layer does the longer-term work: Vital drives the root development that thickens the turf and closes the gaps clover exploits, and Soak opens up compacted, water-repellent soil so the whole root zone works, addressing 2 of clover's favourite conditions at once. A slow-release granular like Density at 2.5kg per 100m2 holds a steady nitrogen base in the soil between feeds, which is exactly what a clover-prone lawn is missing.

One practical note: do not apply your liquid feed on the same day you spray Bow and Arrow. Keep them at least 24 hours apart, as Bow and Arrow should not be tank-mixed with other products.

Also worth doing

Two simple habit changes support the fix. Raise your mowing height, because cutting too short weakens the grass and gives low-growing clover the light it needs, while taller grass shades it out. And water deeply but less often, rather than light frequent watering, to build deeper grass roots and avoid the constantly moist surface clover favours.

Complete the program

Clover is a nutrition problem as much as a weed problem, which makes it one of the clearest cases for a complete program rather than a one-off spray. The Starter Pack covers Soak, Vital and Surge for $150, the core of what a thin, clover-prone lawn needs to thicken up and hold the nitrogen that keeps clover out. The full 5-step program sets out the month-by-month routine that keeps the lawn dense enough to crowd clover out for good.

Frequently asked questions

Why does clover keep coming back after I spray it?
Because spraying only removes the clover you can see. It does nothing about the low nitrogen that let clover establish in the first place. Clover makes its own nitrogen, so it thrives where your grass is starved. Kill the clover and raise the nitrogen in the same season, and it loses the advantage that keeps bringing it back.

Is clover a sign of something wrong with my lawn?
Usually yes. Clover is one of the clearest indicators that a lawn is low on nitrogen. It can also point to compacted soil, overly short mowing, or ground that stays too wet. It is worth treating clover as a message about the lawn's health, not just a weed to remove.

Is that clover or oxalis?
Clover has rounded leaflets and white ball-shaped flowers. Creeping oxalis has heart-shaped leaflets with a notch at the tip and small yellow flowers. Both are broadleaf weeds controlled by Bow and Arrow, so the treatment is the same either way.

How long does Bow and Arrow take to kill clover?
Clover is one of the faster weeds to respond. Smaller actively growing plants show decline within 1 to 2 weeks, with complete kill over 4 to 6 weeks. Larger established mats take the longer end of that range.

Can I just feed the lawn and skip the herbicide?
Feeding will make the grass more competitive and reduce clover over time, but established clover mats are tough and can hold on even as the grass improves. The fastest, most reliable result comes from doing both: spray to remove what is there, and feed to stop it returning.