Hello Marjorie,

Your desire to “overseed a grass and Dutch clover lawn” to establish a lawn alternative, and not take over other spaces is likely not possible. Anything that will grow aggressively enough to choke out clover and grass is not going to stop at your lot line.

Information about Corsican mint lists it as a hardy perennial anywhere from a Zone 5 to Zone 7. Most of Ingham county is Zone 5b to 6a. With winters in this area, the plant will likely not survive, but may reseed. I cannot comment on how densely it will reestablish on its own. As far as aggressiveness is concerned, it is categorized as “moderate” and is suggested to be grown only in containers if spread is not desired. Also, it is tolerant of foot traffic if grown between stepping stones or other load bearing structures. By itself it is not tolerant of heavy foot traffic.

Mixing microclover into your lawn is a natural way to reduce fertilizer application by as much as one application per season. Clover (typically white clover) has long been used in lawns because of its ability to convert nitrogen gas in our air to the type of nitrogen that grass needs as nutrition in the soil (fixation). https://extension.umd.edu/resource/lawns-and-microclover

Microclovers such as Trifolium repens var. 'Pirouette' and 'Pipolina' are smaller varietals of white clover that bloom less than Dutch Clover and have a less invasive, more clumping habitat. Clover does have its limitations. Without irrigation, it will die in the hot dry Michigan summer when cool season grasses go dormant. It also will die back through the winter and needs to be constantly reseeded to continue to be abundant enough to be effective.

The vast majority of lawn grass varieties are more durable and competitive than clover. Grass plants can go dormant in drought and heat as a protection mechanism; clover can tend to die out. Clover also tends to die off considerably through the winter. To keep clover in your lawn, you will likely need to seed in the spring as well as the fall. Also, if you wish to maintain your clover through the hottest part of the summer, you will need to irrigate a couple of times per week. You mention being by the woods. Be advised that clover does not perform well in shaded conditions. Also, microclover performs best when the grass is only mowed every 2 to 3 weeks. Depending on your community’s ordinances, this may earn you a visit from the local ordinance officer.

Also be aware, if you simply overseed your lawn with clover, the clover may grow, but you will likely have clumpy areas of clover within your lawn. The clover will not outcompete your current grass plants. And plan to need to reseed the clover every fall and spring to keep from having bare soil that will quickly get overrun with weeds.

A couple of excellent resources on clover in the lawn are:

https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2016-03-18-microcloversa-new-lawn-alternative

https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2022-05-15-microclovers-making-comeback-lawns-become-more-diverse

Hope this helps.

Low Growing Clover / Grass Mix #903839