Grass clippings as a mulch

[rsaville]

Can anyone advise whether there's a proble using grass clippings as a mulch? It'll be mainly aroudn fruit bushes.

thanks

[Jenny Green]

The only problem comes if there are grass roots or seeds in the clippings. If you get grass growing amongst anything it's a pain to get out. So it depends on your clippings. This time of year there should be little danger from seeds, but if your lawnmower has a tendency to 'chew' rather than cut the grass you might be best advised to avoid using clippings directly and compost them instead.
The only other proviso I can think of is not to spread them more than a couple of inches thick, as they can solidify into an impermeable mat in dry weather.

[rsaville]

Ta - I'd heard composting grass didn't work too well unless it was in small quantities?!

[Primrose]

In last summer's heatwave I used grass cuttings as a mulch on my veggie patch and also around soft fruit bushes. There is a risk of weeds germinating from them but I reckon that when fruit is forming it's probably more important to keep moisture in the soil than to worry about weeds. But don't use grass cuttings, even on your compost heap if you've recently treated your lawn with Weed & Feed or any other kind of weedkiller. It's recommended that you have at least five (weekly) cuttings before the grass can be added to a heap or used as a mulch.

[WigBag]

I used grass clippings as a mulch for the first three years on my beds but gave up as they were always tossed off by the blackbirds!! I now compost them with my shredded paper and use the compost as a mulch.