Complete Novice - Clover beat me to it

milzibkit

Hi All.
I am a complete novice gardener. We moved into a new house recently and one of the first jobs has been taking up a paved area in the garden and levelling what soil remained, ready to seed for a lawn. I've been waiting for the holiday season to be over before seeding so I can make sure I water regularly enough, but in the meantime small clover plants have started to completely take over. There is very little prospect of me ever digging these out individually - there are thousands I'd guess.
I will use a chemical if I need to, but my concern is that if I use a weed killer I won't then be able to seed for grass for a long time? We ideally want the lawn to be established for spring next year so that our impending baby arrival can enjoy it!
Does anyone have any idea as to
a) whether I definitely need to remove the clover before seeding for grass
b) how I can best remove it and ensure I can still grow a lawn ready for spring next year?

Any tips gratefully received.
Thanks

wild edges

I've sown clover seed into my lawn. It's good for the soil and the bees and stays green during dry periods. You can treat it as a green manure though and let it grow until you're ready to sow grass seed then hoe it into the ground when you prepare the soil. If it's a small enough area though I'd consider putting down some black plastic or old carpet until you're ready as all kinds of weeds will be throwing out seeds between now and autumn. Clover might end up being the least of your worries.

micearguers

Clover mixes naturally very well with grass. Like @wild edges I've seeded clover in my lawn, and it looks fab. It can be left to flower, it can be mown, and it is much more drought-resistant. If children play on it, just keep it mown.

Dovefromabove

What sort of clover is it?  The smaller white flowered type or the larger red flowered?

BobFlannigon

You won't have a lawn ready for next spring just from sowing seed, it takes much longer to thicken sufficiently.  Why don't you just turf it?  No digging required, no toxic chemicals required.  Turf is dense enough it'll just suffocate the clover and you'll never know it was there.  You can pick out any bits that protrude the side, if you really don't want it.

Helix

Strange to talk about wanting a lawn for your baby to play on, and then consider using toxic chemicals....

I’d use the clover as the basis of a mixed lawn, weed out anything like thistles if they appear, and add some grass seed.

Fairygirl

Whereabouts in the country are you @milzibkit? Seed sown late this month/early September will make a good enough  lawn by next spring/early summer. I'd just put a layer of soil/compost over your existing plot, tamp it down, lightly rake and sow the seed. If you're in the north of the country,  do it this month. September is often too cold for it to germinate unless you're in a warmer area/further south.
Any clover growing through won't cause a problem as far as using the lawn is concerned, and it's pretty difficult to have a pristine lawn when you have children playing on it regularly. Just regular mowing will keep it tidy, and as @micearguers says, the clover is actually a good addition in dry weather when grass can suffer.

There will be a limit to how often your youngster will be playing on it anyway next year, unless it's a very advanced child 

Dovefromabove

I asked which type of clover because I’m just a little concerned about the ID ... it’s unusual for clover to establish so quickly in bare ground soil previously under paving ... and it wouldn’t be the first time ‘a complete novice’ has mistaken that annoying little Oxalis corniculata for clover because of the shape of its leaves  😊 

LG_

Oh, good call Dove. 

Fairygirl

Good point Dove. I was assuming the OP meant it was the actual grass that was covered, rather then where the paving was though. 

Dovefromabove

Fairygirl said:

Good point Dove. I was assuming the OP meant it was the actual grass that was covered, rather then where the paving was though. 

Didnt sound to me as if there was any grass there yet ... I might be wrong ... if the OP gets back to us we may find out 😊