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OT, put grass from mowing in garden??

S

steve jd4000

New User
Is it safe to put grass from mowing in garden??

I let it cook to turn brown then over turn it to cool it down and put it around in garden plants..

Is it safe to do that? Some body tells me it brings in bugs and kills the garden plant HUH?!??

I been doing this for 30 years never had problems and it keeps the weeds down and keeps ground wet, sun off ground from bening dry..

What's your in put on this?
 
Only concern is if you treat it with a weed & feed that there may be residue on the clippings -- bringing broadleaf plant herbicides into a garden tends to be a bad thing. If not enough to kill plants, it might set them back a bit.

Depending how organic you like to be, that might extend to lawns treated with insecticides, too.

My own lawn clippings go right on the garden as a good mulch.
 
I've used it for mulch, over existing mulch like leaves etc., I've dried it out like hay first, tomatoes don't mind it at all. Fresh grass clippings into a compost pile is supposed to be a good nitrogen source to break down the pile, heating things up. Now I wonder if fresh green cuttings were tilled directly into the soil would it provide or rob nitrogen to break down. When dried like hay, and put into the compost it's a source of carbon that requires nitrogen to break down, so it prolongs the process if I am correct an can rob nitrogen from your soil, that is why compost I believe must be completely broken down before using or it can work against you. I like using the dried like hay stuff in thick layers, it makes a nice mulch and bedding for vegetables, covers the soil, helps holding its moisture and stopping the weeds.
 
You should see what grass clippings from a golf course green do when left in a big compost pile. If you put a shovel in it and turn it over, it's all brown, hot, steaming and stinks like heck. The clippings are so fine it starts to decompose in a very short time. Dave
 
Dad did it for years, my brother owned a mowing business and had plenty. He put it on green (same day it was cut) and it worked good for weed control and moisture retention. No problems that I recall.
 
We sweep the yard after we mow...
the back yard sweepings get dumped in the horse feilds, where the critters hoover 'em up. Front yard ( more fescue) goes to the garden.., we put it BETWEEN rows to make a pathway, keeps the kids from stepping on the plants and probably has some compost value.Lately, it's kept the whole garden from washing awaywith all this heavy rain. Dunno if it's the right thing to do, we've just always done it.
 
I think you"ll be fine. Maybe use some of your clippings to make compost. We take all of our clippings from our business and compost them with leaves and other "brown" material. The trick is to get that green (grass clippings) to brown ratio right. It should not stink. Green clippings give you the nitrogen, but you need the leaves, etc. to make it compost down properly. Turning it is essential also, it gets air into the mixture. We do this process on a large scale and end up with several semi loads of compost each year. Take this compost and ammend your soil. It"s so light weight I don"t even dig potatoes anymore, I just pull them out. FYI, I got ours tested and it was 1-3-1. It helps add some nutrients to the soil, but really helps in adding organic material.
 
I have been using that for years. I use to pick up bags of grass put out by the residents by the truck load until they had weed killer and bug control sprayed on their lawns. I still use my own. Hal
 
Many moons ago, I had a lawn service in town. One of our friends had a large garden. She begged me to bring my clippings into her garden-saved a dump fee, so sure. I am quite sure none of these had chemicals applied to them-I know I had not. Chemicals would be my only concern. Greg
 
Biggest problem with grass clippings is it creates a moist hiding place for our friend the slug. Maybe that's just a problem in the northwest.
 
I wait each spring to plow till the first lawn clippings are gathered, (2a. of lawn)then spread the fresh stuff over the newly brush hogged garden area, (1a.) and plow all of it under. I've been doing this a while (NO chemicals on the grass) as my dad always did, and you can't beat the soil after a few years of doing this. thats why it's called green manure. My wife uses clippings all spring to mulch around her flowering plants in full sun for moisture control
 
Just don't pile it against the plants themselves, keep it a half inch or so from the plants you're growing. The mulch will keep moisture from evaporating and will also fight erosion while controlling weeds. A good deal all around.
 
That's what I do too. I gather sweetcorn husks from the grocery stores since customers can husk the corn in the store. I spread them on the garden and plow them under. Ha;
 
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