Page 1 of 3

Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:00 pm
by Primrose
Have been battling with very dry soil here recently so as lawns were due for cutting today have watered veg growing area, cut the grass and put the clippings on as mulch. A friend has.disagreed with me that this is a wise thing to do because of spreading weed seeds but I don,t use chemicals on lawn and the only weed it has is clover.

So, right or wrong ? What do you all do with your lawn clippings? Do they always go in your compost heap?

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:40 pm
by Pa Snip
Primrose wrote: What do you all do with your lawn clippings? Do they always go in your compost heap?


Yes.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:43 pm
by PLUMPUDDING
The mowings from the bottom lawn go either in the compost heap or on the herbaceous border the ones from the middle lawn go under the small shrubs in the rockery and the ones from the top lawn mulch the blackcurrant bush.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:55 pm
by Pa Snip
3 lawns !!!! which one is fine cut for croquet :D

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:57 pm
by tigerburnie
Grass cuttings on their own can get slushy and not nice, I don't use 'em for mulch, but do add it in layers in the compost bin

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:25 pm
by Westi
I dry mine off a bit then use them. Never fresh as they go slimy if fresh I've found, but needs must & if all Your beds are a bit dry they will keep the moisture in & you will deal with the weeds or slime as it occurs - but your crop will appreciate the moisture & extra warmth!

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:14 pm
by Primrose
I don,t think I've ever had the mulch go slimey. I hoed off the weeds from the surface and watered. This left the soil surface a little craggy so the grass decomposes fairly quickly and obviously some gets pulled in by the worms. The rest dries out fairly quickly but does form a thin protective laye against weeds and moisture loss.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:51 pm
by robo
I would have thought if the grass is dry before you cut it should be ok but if it's wet it's going to go slimy

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:45 pm
by Geoff
I have a holding heap where I collect stuff for composting; weeds, cut down plants, kitchen waste, other suitable household waste. When I cut the grass I uncover the active heap(s) - I use carpet - give it as good a stirring up as I can with a fork then build it up in layers using grass, shredded paper, torn up cardboard, stuff from the holding heap and comfrey. If it is a bit dry I water it then cover it up again. I have six composting bays over a cubic metre each. If a heap hasn't worked very well I may recycle it into new heaps like using the holding bay. I cut a lot of grass and this takes over half what I cut. Some I do use directly as a mulch on an area where I grow a few Christmas trees but I don't use any directly on the garden. The rest just gets heaped up and eventually spread under some shrubs.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:03 pm
by Johnboy
Hi Geoff,
If a compost heap fails stinging nettle, minus the seedhead, at the base is a very good method of generating heat to initiate degredation and save the day.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:26 pm
by JohnN
I put my lawn clippings (quit a lot) on the compost heap, together with some barley straw, as recommended by Johnboy. Problem is I suspect I might have been sold a bale of WHEAT straw this year as the girl in the farm store wasn't sure. How do I tell, and does it make any difference? Thanks for any info.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:47 am
by Geoff
Looks like nobody knows.
From the composting point of view I would think there is little difference.
As for recognition, I think wheat straw is slightly paler, slightly softer and the stems are a bit flatter. There are probably some ears amongst it so you could look for the spiky bits for barley.

Ears.jpg
Ears.jpg (46.64 KiB) Viewed 7615 times

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 4:54 pm
by JohnN
Thanks, Geoff. Looks like wheat straw to me.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:45 am
by Johnboy
Hi John,
It doesn't matter which straw you use and as we grow Barley I said Barley but I really meant just straw. Masses of grass can almost liquify and the straw helps to prevent this and a foul smelling mess.

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 7:47 am
by Ricard with an H
It's all been said already though I would like too add that I don't miss an opportunity to dry grass cutting then mix them into soil that needs help. I have such a healthy weed bank that grasses aren't going to make much difference to the weed collection.

Some parts of my garden have improved a lot by the inclusion of dried grasses though I'm scared to use cut grasses at the moment because the lawn fertiliser I'm using has an additive FE and something else I don't recognise.