Composting grass clippings?

atlarge54 · Aug 13, 2018

SWMBO now has a bagger mower which give me a job I never had before. Lucky for me she only does the small front yard but I'm a bit surprised that it generates a wheelbarrow of clippings with each mowing. I looked into composting and the C/N ratio. In a month of mowing and adding newspapers to the clippings to add carbon, the pile is just a bit of a slimy mess.

Anybody here have a method that has worked for them?

old · Aug 13, 2018

One of the big problem your having it lack of air. Compost needs to be turned every once In a while so that it des not just settle down and get like your is.. My self I use grass clipping between the row In the garden and around the plants. Keeps weed down plus add to the soil

coshoo · Aug 13, 2018

If its slimy, its probably too wet. Just keep adding clippings, and turn and mix it once in awhile. When the moisture is right, it will compost on its own. I've been successfully composting grass clippings for years, and didn't know I was supposed to add anything (such as newspapers) to them.

ss55 · Aug 13, 2018

Do yourself a favor and put a "recycler" blade and discharge plug on the mower. Recycler mowers chop grass clippings into small bits and drops them into the lawn. Dry leaves shatter into fine bits too, beats raking leaves by a long shot.

gene bender · Aug 13, 2018

Grassclippings belong on the yard not in a bag. Maybe you are letting the grass get too long and like other post said get the blades that chop clippings up finer set the mower so it mows 3in you need the healthy thatch so you don't lose moisture

Hayfarmer · Aug 13, 2018

I have a compost pile. It started with a dirt pile and I put all kinds of green cuttings on it including grass clippings. I usually pile the grass clippings next to the compost pile until there is enough to bother with then mix it into the compost pile with my tractor loader. That also airates the pile. Grass clippings that are wet or even just damp will get mouldy and "heat" in a pile, but that is part of the composting .

Geo-TH,In · Aug 13, 2018

A landscaper brings me his grass clipping. I spread them out very thin and then cover with a layer
of dirt. I don't use news paper. Don't add nitrogen. Grass has its own nitrogen. Grass clippings
will compost in your yard very fast. If you bag them you are robbing your lawn of nitrogen.

I cut my grass 3+ inches. Have the front of the blade 3 inches higher than the back if the grass is
very tall. That chops my lawn into tiny pieces.

steve19438 · Aug 13, 2018

I get clippings from community center behind our property. guy that cuts the grass dumps it all on a big pile and I then spread it over my garden with my back blade.

D beatty · Aug 13, 2018

I never take clippings or leaves out of yard. I let the mower bust them and blow them back on yard. About every other year I lime yard to
combat the souring of ground and helps break down leaves.

OliverGuy · Aug 13, 2018

Do you have leaves? Mix those with your grass clippings. That?s how I make hundreds of cubic yards of compost every year. Tweak to get
your carbon/ nitrogen right. And try to chop the leaves up. I usually run short on nitrogen and throw 500# of urea over the top

Geo-TH,In · Aug 14, 2018

I spread out grass, let it dry a little. Then cover it with a thin layer of dirt. After I get about
3 inches of grass clipping and dirt, take the tiller to it to incorporate. Wait for a soaking rain,
Pile up dirt/grass. In a month, grass is gone. Thick wet clumps of grass could take years to
compost.

Eldon (WA) · Aug 14, 2018

(quoted from post at 10:38:53 08/13/18) SWMBO now has a bagger mower which give me a job I never had before. Lucky for me she only does the small front yard but I'm a bit surprised that it generates a wheelbarrow of clippings with each mowing. I looked into composting and the C/N ratio. In a month of mowing and adding newspapers to the clippings to add carbon, the pile is just a bit of a slimy mess.

Anybody here have a method that has worked for them?

I let a local lawn care company dump their grass clippings on a field of mine. They would spread it out about a foot deep, then when they covered it I would plow it under and we would repeat. After two years I planted corn and pumpkins on that field and had the tallest corn and biggest pumpkins I had ever grown. Then the crab grass and other weeds that got hauled in with the clippings took over.....

Composting grass clippings?

atlarge54

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old

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coshoo

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ss55

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gene bender

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Hayfarmer

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Geo-TH,In

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steve19438

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D beatty

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OliverGuy

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Geo-TH,In

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Eldon (WA)

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