I don't have a clover-only lawn, but I did seed dutch white clover along with grass a few years ago and it has colonized well (maybe a little too well).

Where are you located? In my zone 8, neither dutch white or microclover are fully evergeen. They can best be described as semi evergreen for me. So if you had a clover only lawn it would be a mess in winter. Clover makes thick roots and branches as it spreads and these don't look great when bare. In our wet winters this would mean a mucky, rooty mess. So that's why I mix mine into the lawn. Mowing keeps the clover short of course.

When "they" were first pushing microclover here five years ago as an antidote to the chafer beetle infestation, they were calling it evergreen. Not true. It may keep it's leaves a bit better than dutch white but they turn brown and sodden.

Clover doesn't seem to grow in shady areas as well as grass. It does start growing earlier than the grass in spring, however.

I'm not an expert. Just my personal observation and experience.

Thanks so much for the info! I didn't even think about how messy it would look in winter, or that the roots are thick. The tall clover we have right now seems to pull up very easily, but it's also new growth, so that may be why we haven't noticed a thick root system. This is exactly why I needed input! :) I'm in east Tennessee, zone 7b, with no shade in the area I'm hoping to cover.

The stems are relatively easy to pull but over time can run very far and deep and form mats. I find I have to keep on top of annual overseeding so the grass can compete and prevent that to some degree.

Can you post a pic of the area in question. There are a lot of other interesting ground cover options.

It's working for me.

See https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cover-crop-to-use-in-lawn-dsvw-vd~4920692

I love clover in my lawn but I have to agree with the guy on your other thread who said over time the clover can really start to take over. Mine has been in several years and I have to religiously overseed to make sure the lawn stays competitive. It’s manageable on my small lot but like NHBAbs, I’d say clover only on a rural property or large lot would not be ideal. Grass can be a major pain in the ass but it can also solve a lot of problems. Especially if you’re not too anal about having a perfect lawn.

Jb, having read the linked thread, it sounds like you have a clover-grass mixed lawn which is also what I have and like. Fam of6 is is considering clover as a groundcover instead of grass which is what I was sounding skeptical about. Many folks without a lot of experience with caring for a lawn and garden assume that a groundcover in place of a lawn is less work, but IME unless one lives in a dry area, lawn is the easiest to care for (and I am not a fan of lawns!) whether grass is mixed with clover or other groundcovers and as Killeen says especially if one isn't anal about having a grass monoculture since mowing means that woody plants can't grow.

Thanks so much for the feedback! Just to clarify, I'm not looking for a no-mow/no-maintenance yard, but I don't want to spend time babying a grass lawn that doesn't want to live here. :) The clover, however, seems happy and thick, and I have no problem letting it take over and maybe adding some microclover seeds. I also have four little kids, and heartily enjoy my weed bouquets they bring me, so having a pristine lawn may never make it onto my wish list.

Having even coverage in the yard would be nice though, instead of this:

Taken yesterday. Many of the dark green patches are clover.

The coverage from the clover seems even and lush, but is slightly on the tall side (kids small toys and shoes seem to disappear in it easily). The patch to the left of the front porch is several inches taller than all the other clover patches (maybe because it's in morning shade?). The reason I'm asking about microclover in particular is because I have to do a thorough search in the clover patches before mowing the yard, and thought implementing microclover at this point may cut down on that small inconvenience. (But I don't want to be swayed simply based off advertising, so thought I'd ask for direct experience with microclover, and hear some of the downsides as well).

Definitely won't be pulling anything up to put down seed, so I suppose it would be a grass/clover mixture in the yard.

Thanks for the link to your thread, jb...glad to hear you're happy with it! Any tips on where to buy and dispersing the seeds? Hearing of others who are happy with a clover yard is really convincing me that this is the way to go.

Thanks again for the great points, folks! You've got me thinking!

Edited to add: The only area of the lawn that would be taken over by clover is what you see in the picture. Out of frame to the left is our vegetable garden, and directly behind where I'm standing is a wooded area. Also curious if anyone has experience with a clover lawn and chickens?? We don't have chickens now, but are thinking of getting a few next spring (not totally convinced this will happen). Will they destroy a clover lawn?

We have 4 chickens on a city lot. They will destroy any type of lawn, clover or grass. If you want anything green, you will need to keep them to a dedicated area. They are great at eating bugs and weeds but wreak havoc in the garden beds. They can also be noisy as hell.

They are my husband’s. I’m very over chickens in the city. Lol. This is the boss, Mimi. She is a beotch!

Bahaha! She looks it!

Bees love clover flowers.

Ernst for cover crops and seeds.

Im in Middle TN. Zone 7A officially. Though our winters in the 10 years I have lived here have been much milder - 7 b on average with a few 8a. This winter was mild until the huge ice freeze accross the south in late Feb/early March. We dropped under 10 degrees for the low for roughly 7 days. All that to say that my regular white clover stayed green!

curious if OP ended up seeding the microclover or reg clover and how it is now 3 years later? mine is only 1 year old.

I live on zone 8A (charlotte, NC) and my micro clover has been evergreen. I sowed them in Fall of 2019. It was supposed to be a mixed lawn 95%TTTF+5% MC seed but microclover took over in spring of 2020. TTTF started to thin out as I was mowing too low because the clover leaves were so huge and I wanted to thin clover coverage so TTTF gets a chance to grow. that only ended up hurting Fescue but did not make a dent in new clover leaf size Then I put some organic "starter" fertilizer early summer hoping that till make grass grow taller than MC but that ended up creating fungal disease and by end of summer, grass was pretty much non existent. There were a few spots MC vanished from (due to construction activity) but they returned in spring. Only issue I have is that MC is no smaller than regular white clover or yellow (alskine) clover. I was reassured it will get smaller after couple years of mowing. Time will tell. If I had to do it all over again - I will sow 100% TTTF in fall (at 90% of recommended seeding rate). then in spring, sow 5% MC seeds to the established lawn. Once MC is established, apply preemergent. I would appreciate your feedback/experience as I really LOVE LOVE the looks of TTTF_MC mixed lawn. Plus I see a major increase in earthworms, birds etc with clover. Not to mention, if I bag clover leaves while mowing, they make a wonderful nitrogen source to my compost pile. I add the compost back to the ground or to make potting mixes.