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Tired of Maintaining Your Rental’s Lawn?

Magnifying Glass Focused on a Clover FlowerEveryone knows that a healthy, green lawn can significantly improve a Miami rental property’s curb appeal. But for single-family rental property owners, traditional lawn maintenance can often be a problem. If you depend on your tenants to maintain the lawn, you will get varied results. Many tenants have no idea how to care for a lawn or they may not want to put in the time and effort required.

Doing it yourself or hiring professional landscapers will cost you both time and money. If you want to be free of the struggle of lawn maintenance without getting rid of a green yard, you might want to consider planting clover. Here are some advantages of planting clover for single-family rental property owners.

Pros & Cons to Growing Clover

Unlike most lawn grasses, clover has many benefits that can help boost your rental’s landscaping and appearance. Clover is one of those plants that fix atmospheric nitrogen, which all plants need to grow. Aside from making your lawn a vivid green, planting clover also encourages the healthy growth of nearby plants.

With regular watering, clover usually stays greener longer than other grasses since they are drought-resistant. Clover is also a natural weed and pest deterrent, so it will lessen your frequency for bug spraying as well as save you time from pulling weeds out of the lawn. Finally, clover is very low maintenance. It only grows a few inches in height, meaning you don’t need to mow much at all.

As with anything, these benefits also come with a few disadvantages. Clover is more prone to trampling than most grasses and can stain clothing. This could be a problem for yards that get a lot of use. Clover also doesn’t do very well in very dry climates, like those found in desert regions as they prefer soil that is kept somewhat moist. If you choose to use clover, you would benefit from choosing one native to your area.

How to Plant

Clover is easy to plant and grow in many parts of the country. You can add clover to an existing grass lawn by raking the top layer of soil and then seeding right over the lawn. The clover will grow with the grass, enriching the soil and making the grass healthier. Alternatively, if you want to use clover as a groundcover all by itself, you will need to start with damp, cultivated soil.

Just like how you would prepare for a lawn or wildflower garden, you prepare the ground and then sow the clover seeds. Clover grows quickly and you will soon have a low-maintenance carpet of rich, green beauty.

Clover Types

You first need to choose the clover variety that best fits your climate and the soil in your rental property’s yard. Growing to a height of about 4 – 6 inches with pretty white flowers from time to time, the Dutch white clover is the most common clover used in lawns. One reason for its popularity is its resistance to drought, plus it doesn’t really grow very tall. The flowers, however, can bother some people and must be mowed every few weeks.

Another even easier variety to maintain is the micro-clover. Micro-clovers are smaller than other clovers, with leaves half the size. It doesn’t bloom often and stays below 4 inches high with occasional mowing. Micro-clovers are rapidly gaining popularity because they are low maintenance.

A micro-clover lawn only needs to be mowed once a month or so, compared to weekly with most grasses. It is a very good option for anyone who wants less lawn maintenance but wants to improve a rental’s exterior appearance.

 

Would you like more ideas on how to reduce the maintenance of your rental property while maximizing curb appeal? Contact the local Miami property management experts at 305-501-1511.

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