white clover in pathways?

I am looking to seed my pathways with white clover mainly because i have a bunch of seed, any reason i shouldn't go ahead?

I like the idea - want to hear what others think. I might try it myself in a few areas.

Usually people plant dwarf clover on places they're going to walk. Normal white clover should be small enough, even if it might not be "dwarf".

I planted red clover (T. Ladino/Pratense) on places that I don't walk, and it needs whacking. But it looks nice. Even in a shady area, it gets about a foot high or more.

Could feasibly plant that where I walk and just cut it more often. It's amazingly durable.

This pic was taken just after hand cutting it back.
William

John Seaver wrote:any reason i shouldn't go ahead?

it won't stay put in your paths. the stolons can be pretty darn tenacious and moderately aggressive.

that isn't to say I advise against it, just that you ought to plan for the clover spreading.

It's lovely for the bees, deer, groundhogs and if you have any chickens free ranging. It should also choke out any weeds to leave you a path that is pretty uniform and green all spring, summer and fall.

Tamera, in Portugal, used white clover on a lot of their paths - here's a few photos.

thank you all! i am going to go for ii, seems like a good choice for our situation...permies is such a cool site!

One concern: clover is quite slippery compared to grass. If you plant it on a slope, you may find yourself going down the slope on your backside or hip, especially on dewy mornings.

I wonder if there is a nutrient accumulation/exchange advantage to having green pathways made of clover, dandelion and other nutrient accumulating ground covers. I think I saw 'skeeter' in one of paul's videos say that he leaves weeds in his pathways to feed the soil. I would think that the mycelium would then be able to ferry those extra nutrients from the pathways around to garden plants. Of course I could imagine some super high traffic paths would be better off mulched with whatever brown organic stuff is available.

Don't forget that if you walk around in clover while wearing sandals you can easily get a bee sting.