Hoyt_Viper

My clover and chickory is doing awesome so far this year (planted last spring) but worried about weeds. Last year I mowed about 3 times but the clover was nothing like it is this year (heighth wise). Has anyone cut the second year? if so, did you cut below the clover?

I also want to overseed with some additional seed....should I?

bowmanaj

Without actually seeingthe plotits hard to say exactly what to do, but it sounds like your 2nd year clover has come back strong. For the most part, the weeds in second year clover are usually way more "under control" than with brand new plots. It seems like most people like to cut the clover down to about 6-8 inches. If you can keep your clover as high as 8 or even 9 inches, without lettingthe competing weedsreseed themselves, thats really good. I wish my plot was like that. A problem I have on my farm is that deer numbers are high and theclover never gets really tall. It would never get tall enough to go into bloom unless I protected it. Because of this, it seems like the weeds have a better opportunity to establish themselves.Personally, I want to trydifferent mowing tactics before I spend $$ on herbicide.If it is possible (unlessthe deer are hitting it hard, or unlessyou have weeds going to seed),try to let the clover go into bloom before mowing it. Sometimes that can be just aseffective as overseeding with more seed.

All that said,growing clover seems to be all about eliminating the competitionweeds and grasses. If that part is under control, clover can really take offbyout-competing other plants. Soif your tall clover plot also hastall weeds in it, its more important to cut itbefore the weeds go to seed.Much more important than lettingthe clover go to bloom.Also, try to mowright before a rain if possible. Its not always necessary, but the rain will lessen the stress on theclover. It sounds like you already have a very good plot as far as 1-2 year old plots go. These are just a few things Ive tried in a couple years of messing with clover, andalsosome things Ive learned from people in this forum. I'm sure you will get some good info on this subject.

PopGunWill

You can cut clover anytime except in a drought. If you can't rake off the clippings I would suggest cutting no more than 1/4 of the height at a time to decrease the chance of the clover hay matting and suffocating the plants below. You can also be successful with herbicides like Vantage and Arrest herbicides. My experience is with the Arrest and it worked like a charm but if the grass is under the clover canopy you'll need to top the clover to expose the grass to the spray.