I'm here in one of my clover plots today and this is one that I planted about a year ago, so it's coming in nicely. I'm happy with how it looks. I just mowed it for the first time yesterday and then we got rain today, which is about perfect.
One of the keys to mowing clover is you do not want to stress it out. There are a couple of ways that happens. One, if you mow it when it's hot and dry, with no rain in the forecast, that can really stress out the clover and make it struggle through those hot, dry summer months. Secondly, do not mow too short. I mowed this a little over six inches tall, that's about as low as you want to go.
The reason I like to mow my clover at least a couple times a year is I do see an uptick in utilization by the deer. They like that fresh growth, it seems. It can also help curb back some of the weeds, though it’s not going to get rid of all the weeds. Mowing is not really going to affect any of the grasses at all or most of the broadleaf perennials, so those two things you're likely going to have to treat chemically, but it can help curb back some of the annual broad leaves. It just helps slow them down if you can hit them before they start to go to seed.
As I said before, I mowed this nice and high, and I didn’t even mow a lot of the clover. I mowed over the top of a lot of it. I want a lot of this clover to keep growing and go to seed and fill in some of the bare spots since it's still a young clover plot.
Keep that in mind as you're mowing your clover this summer not to stress it out. Make sure there's rainfall in the forecast and don't mow your clover too short.
--Midwest Whitetail