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| Now I've done that in the past on top of newspapers and it worked OK but usually became messy after a while not to mention the trouble of doing it in the first place which at 85 is a growing concern.
So any problems?? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by barbarag_happy 8a SE VA (My Page) on Wed, Feb 29, 12 at 13:17
| I've found it to be too much work (all that stooping) and hard to keep up with. The clippings can mat or float away in our hard rains. I still do this around vegetables tho. Problems-- last year a flock of (Robins?) descended and tore up the newspaper. I guess earthworms were enjoying the moist soil under the paper. Anyway it was a big mess! What I'm doing instead to keep weeds down and also make the mulch last longer is laying newspapers down and then putting down the mulch. The mulch seems to go further this way too---! |
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- Posted by Strawberryhill 5a IL (My Page) on Wed, Feb 29, 12 at 13:18
| I put grass clippings around my tomatoes and got verticillium wilt (fungal root rot). Other years we rototille the grass clippings into the soil and the result was great (bumper crop of tomatoes). Grass clippings is like peat moss (best if mixed into the soil). Both peat moss and grass clippings on top of soil impede water from penetrating deep into the soil, thus surface root rot, and shallow roots. |
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| Thanks for the replies. But I'm a little disappointed the thread has disappeared so quickly! Seems like with the abundance of clippings and the need to do something with them there would have been more experience in using them. Here I was looking forward to using them on all my beds and my new catcher on the mower. And no need to buy mulch! |
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- Posted by wirosarian z4b WI (My Page) on Fri, Mar 2, 12 at 11:29
| 2 problems that I've found: (1) do not use grass clippings if the grass has been treated with a weed control & if you are an organic gardener, you won't want to use grass clippings if they have been treated with most any pesticide, (2)as strawberryhill stated grass sheds water, think of it like a "thatched roof", so if you are depending on rain & overhead irrigation for water, you will not be getting the water to the areas that you want it. I've foung the best place to put grass clipping is in the compost pile. |
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- Posted by kathy9norcal CA 9 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 2, 12 at 12:05
| If you have alot of grass clippings, why not buy a plastic compost bin and compost them with leaves from your trees. Before our trees grew up big, we used to drive around the neighborhood looking for fallen leaf piles. I now bag up my leaves and use them to mix with the grass clippings throughout the summer. Composting is really easy and satisfying--and makes a great mulch. |
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| Hi Jim, I'm glad to see that you're doing well and thinking spring. In the past, I used grass clippings for mulch but they decomposed quickly. I'm happier buying shredded hardwood mulch because I only need to apply it once a season. Our current lawn mower mulches the clippings so there's no waste to dispose of and the lawn fertilizes itself (I give it a dose of cheap fertilizer in spring and that's it for the year). |
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| Shucks there goes that idea! Yes I'm doing well albeit shuffling around a lot and once in a while falling. For those not in the know. I had a stroke in late November. |
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- Posted by dan_keil_cr Illinois z5 (dankeil_1@yahoo.com) on Fri, Mar 2, 12 at 19:56
| Grass clippings start to stink in a real short time. If you use herbicide on your lawn, you can't use the clippings. Strawberryhill |
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- Posted by Strawberryhill 5a IL (My Page) on Sun, Mar 4, 12 at 12:54
| There was one poster, Behla, who put grass clippings around her roses in California and they went downhill with fungal diseases like my tomatoes. We use the same varieties of tomatoes every year, and the only year with root rot was the year planted in 4" of clippings as mulch (decomposed through the winter, and soaking wet in the spring). Other years we put FRESH grass clippings and rototille with the soil in the spring with zero fungal diseases, and bumper crops of tomatoe. I checked with several University extensions as why, listed in this order: University of Missouri, University of Colorado, and University of Idaho - I was trying to find out the time frame that grass clipping release its nitrogen. Previously the answer was 1 month, but from the below data, it's faster, 2 weeks. That explains why it didn't do my tomatoes any good when I left the clippings to decompose over the long winter, versus a bumper crop when I used it fresh in the spring. Below are the data from several University Extensions: Grass clippings returned to the lawn provide up to 25 percent of your lawn's total fertilizer needs. Clippings contain about 4 percent nitrogen, 2 percent potassium and 1 percent phosphorus. While decomposing, they also serve indirectly as a food source for the bacteria in the soil. Yes, grass clippings used as a mulch should be built up gradually to a 1-inch layer using dry grass. Greater thickness can inhibit the penetration of moisture and oxygen into the soil, and excessive heat and foul odors may develop. Do not mulch with clippings from a lawn that has been treated with a weed control product within the last two weeks. Research at the University of |
Here is a link that might be useful: Don't bag it - recycle your grass clippings
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| Good information Strawberryhill! |
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- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Mon, Mar 5, 12 at 16:08
| Jim, I hope the recovery is going well and STOP FALLING DOWN. Please. I use grass clippings in the compost pile, but it's hard to turn it over. I also dump them under my avocado trees since there is a two-foot deep pile of brown leaf litter under them already and the grass won't form a thatch. The best thing to do is to leave them on the grass, I'm told, but Mikey is too vain about his lawn to do that. Renee |
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| barbarag_happy, I had the same problem with the newspaper so I switch to cardboard, last longer. And don't get me started the fabric which I'm still pulling up after ten years. Jim, hope your taking it easy. Did you require PT? |
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- Posted by cactus_joe 7b PNW (My Page) on Tue, Mar 6, 12 at 22:35
| Strawberryhill spoke my mind it in one sentence "Greater thickness can inhibit the penetration of moisture and oxygen into the soil, and excessive heat and foul odors may develop." I do not have any grass clippings thorugh the season, except for the last one to two "mows" of the year - usually end of September. The rest of the year, they are all mulched back into the lawn. The end of the season clippings goes into a separate pile, mixed in with fall leaves. By spring, the whole mixture is usually ready to be dug into the beds. I learnt my lesson in the one year when I dumped the whole lot into the compost bin. It formed a thick, slimy, gooey layer which was very difficult to mix into the main body of the compost. And I am sure it was a significant barrier to oxygen pernetration judging by the tell tale anoerobic smell emitting from the bin. |
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