Right now you might be spending your time ripping clovers out of your lawn...cursing the weeds as you go. But when you see four leaf water clover (Marsilea mutica)and its effect on a pond, you might actually want to go out and buy it.
Depending on where you plant it in your pond, water clover performs different jobs. You can place it in a pot on a shallow shelf in your pond, 3or 4 inches deep, and its leaves will float on the surface, giving the water and your fish much needed shade during the hot summer months. By shading the water, clover actually helps get rid of algae. And because it’s a higher life form, also works to starve the algae of nutrients.
Planted in soil along the shore of your pond, water clover softens the appearance of boulders and rocks at the water’s edge. You don’t need a whole lot of soil to plant it in. You can even place the sprout in a rock crevice. Give it a little bid of gravel or sand and these perennials will begin spreading in no time. This is one tough plant, but it does need nutrition. As long as it’s roots are underneath the water line, four leaf clover can live on fish waste alone.
You might think you are seeing things if you catch a glimpse of water clover at night. Its leaves actually fold up and re-open the next morning. You’d never see the four leaf clover we are used to doing that!
This hardy perennial can withstand temperatures down to minus 20 degrees farenheight. If you live in a colder climate, just bring it inside and over winter it as a house plant. Even after the first frost you’ll notice the tiny leaves stay green for a long time. But if you’re looking for spectacular flowers, water clover is not for you. Buy it for the foliage, not the blooms.
Water clovers like full sun and you can grow them in containers, as long as the soil is constantly moist or the water is no more than four inches deep. They grow up to three inches high but usually no taller than an inch above the water line. Many people don’t realize these perennials are considered ferns and may just be the lucky charms of your water garden. In fact, you might view four leaf clover in a whole new light!
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