Planting Ladino White Clover for deer
Trifolium repens
Deer hit this hard. That is the point.
- Seeding rate
- 5 to 8 lb
- per acre, broadcast
- Minimum plot
- 0.25 acre
- smaller gets browsed out
- Plant
- Late summer, or early spring once soil is workable
Rates are broadcast figures. Drilling runs roughly a third lower. These are starting points from extension guidance and have not yet been re-checked against a second source per record, so treat them as indicative and soil test before you buy seed.
About Ladino White Clover
The default perennial food plot, and for most people the right one. A well-managed ladino stand lasts three to five years, tolerates heavy browsing better than almost anything else, and fixes its own nitrogen so it does not need feeding the way a cereal does. It handles small plots. Half an acre of clover will take pressure that would strip half an acre of brassicas to bare dirt in a fortnight, because clover regrows from the crown after every bite. That makes it the only sensible choice on ground where you cannot dedicate real acreage. Broadcast at 5 to 8 lb per acre, or 3 to 5 if you are drilling. The seed is tiny and the commonest failure is burying it. It needs light to germinate and wants no more than a quarter inch of cover, so broadcast onto a firm seedbed and roll rather than disc it in. Mow it. Clover left uncut goes stemmy and gets outcompeted by grass, and a stand that is mown two or three times a season will run years longer than one that is not.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7
- Drainage
- Well drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Maintenance
- Moderate
Similar to Ladino White Clover
Other food plot forages with the same deer rating.
- Cereal RyeSecale cerealeZones 3–9Frequently damaged
- Crimson CloverTrifolium incarnatumZones 5–9Frequently damaged
- Forage ChicoryCichorium intybusZones 3–9Frequently damaged
- Forage OatsAvena sativaZones 5–9Frequently damaged
- Forage RadishRaphanus sativusZones 3–9Frequently damaged
- Forage SoybeansGlycine maxZones 5–10Frequently damaged
Protecting Ladino White Clover
Deer will destroy this without protection, so the question is which kind you are willing to pay for.
- How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
- What a deer fence costsMaterial ratios are stable even when prices are not, and installation reliably doubles the figure.
- Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
- Fencing a raised bedA deer jumps from ground level, so measure the barrier from the ground and not from the top of the bed.
Where Ladino White Clover grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Ladino White Clover belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Ladino White Clover
- What is the seeding rate for Ladino White Clover?
- Broadcast 5 to 8 lb per acre. Drilled rates run roughly a third lower. Soil test before buying seed, because pH matters more to the outcome than the rate does.
- When should I plant Ladino White Clover?
- Late summer, or early spring once soil is workable. It is a cool-season crop, so the window is set by your average first frost rather than by the month.
- How big does a Ladino White Clover plot need to be?
- About 0.25 acres as a realistic floor. Below that, deer graze the crop faster than it establishes and you get bare ground instead of forage. Local deer density moves this number more than anything else.
- Do deer actually eat Ladino White Clover?
- Frequently Severely Damaged on the Rutgers scale, which measures how heavily deer damage a plant. On an ornamental that is a warning. On a food plot crop it is the specification.
- What hardiness zones does Ladino White Clover grow in?
- Ladino White Clover is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- How big does Ladino White Clover get?
- Mature height is roughly 4–6 in. Growth rate is moderate.