How to Use Grass Clippings In the Garden
Grass clippings are an incredible source of organic matter for your garden and lawn. Discover how to use them to boost plant growth.
A well-maintained lawn looks great, but it also leaves behind yard waste. That said, there’s so much more you can do with grass clippings than just clearing them from the yard and dropping them in the garbage. Let’s talk about how to use grass clippings!
Using and recycling grass clippings in your garden can make it healthier and repurposes your yard’s waste in an eco-friendly way. It can improve your soil, provide moisture retention, and gradually decompose to become plant food where your plants need it most.
So let’s discuss the leftovers from your regular mowing and how best to put those to use for you! You’ll never need to load up that plastic recycle bin with grass again.
Useful Products For Composting Grass:
About Grass Clippings
Grass clippings can be used in gardens in several ways. They provide the soil with nutrients, prevent weed growth, and preserve moisture. They contain 4% nitrogen, 2% potassium, and 1% phosphorus, along with small amounts of other plant nutrients. When decomposed, grass clippings also serve as a food source for microbial life from the soil surface.
Why Reuse Grass Clippings
Grass clippings are simply too valuable to go to waste! Leaving clippings on the lawn after you mow allows them to decompose in place, usually within a few weeks. Even if you want to rake them, you can add them to a compost pile or bin or use them in other ways.
Here are a few of the most important reasons you should reuse your grass clippings.
It Saves Time
Lawn mowing will become much more convenient and fast. You won’t have to use the mower bag or grass catcher when you mow, which means less time spent emptying it. Mowing the lawn becomes simpler, easier, and doesn’t require as much time.
You’ll Produce Less Waste
Up until 2017, about 35.2 million tons of yard trimmings would end up in landfills, making up 13% of municipal solid waste. Grass clippings take a long time to decompose when they are packed inside plastic bags. You can reduce your contribution to waste production through grasscycling while improving your soil.
You’ll Need Less Water and Fertilizer
While grasscycling may not be a substitute for fertilization, mulching your lawn with grass clippings will definitely reduce your need for lawn fertilizer. As the clippings decompose, they supply three major nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. The clippings can contribute to nearly 25% of your turf’s fertilization needs.
They also act as a mulch layer, which means that moisture will be retained for longer and you won’t have to water your lawn as frequently. One common misconception about clippings is that they cause thatch buildup. However, that’s not actually the case if you’re using them correctly.
6 Uses for Grass Clippings
Here are some great ideas to try in your garden to put those grass clippings to good use.
Use Grass Clippings As Mulch
Leaving mulch around flowers, vegetables, trees, and shrubs in the yard helps control weeds and regulate the temperature and moisture of the soil. Grass clippings are an excellent choice of mulch because they’re lightweight and quick to break down.
Spread a 2 to 3-inch thick layer near the base of plants. Grass clippings used for mulching should ideally be about 1-2 inches long. Getting special mulching blades or mowing using a special mower can really help you with this. Mulching blades cut grass into smaller and finer pieces, making it easy for them to decompose. Similarly, a mulching mower is designed to mow and cut grass tips into small pieces and disperse them more evenly throughout the lawn.
It’s best to use dry grass clippings. Fresh grass clippings or damp ones can mat down into a thick, almost impermeable layer that can slow drainage and reduce the oxygen that penetrates through the soil surface to the earth below. If you’re using fresh clippings, keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get matted together, and break them up if they do. You can always dry clippings if you need to.
Make sure your lawn has not been treated with herbicides and pesticides before you mow. Mulching clippings that contain these chemical products could become a problem, particularly if you’re trying to start seeds or have very young plants where you use the mulch.
Top Dress Raised Beds
Grass clippings are also a good option to add to your raised garden beds as a top dressing. They help your beds retain moisture, suppress weeds, reduce soil compaction, and add nutrients for your plants. You can simply spread a few inches over the surface of the beds. As the clippings decompose, the height of the mulch will drop. Add more as you need to throughout the growing season!
Use Grass Clippings to Make Compost
Lawn clippings can also go to your compost pile or bin. They are a rich source of nitrogen and, when paired with carbon-rich plant materials, will break down very quickly.
Mix your grass with some straw, finely shredded paper or cardboard, dry leaves, or other carbon-rich materials in the compost pile. For the quickest decomposition, use one part of grass clippings to two parts of your carbon-rich waste and layer it together. Make sure it’s damp, and then turn it 1-2 times a week until you’ve got a pile of rich, dark-colored compost. It will heat up as it breaks down, so be sure to use a compost thermometer to keep track of its progress.
This works well in a compost tumbler, too!
Leave Clippings On The Lawn
It’s fine to leave your clippings on the lawn every now and again. As they break down, they release nitrogen and other plant food back into your lawn. Be careful not to leave too many clippings. This can smother your existing grass!
Leaving clippings in place about once a month should help reduce the need to water as regularly. It acts like mulch around the living lawn grass. Try to remove grass clippings in excess or those that block sun exposure or slow drainage on the lawn surface.
Make Liquid Lawn Clipping Fertilizer
Grass clippings can also be made into a 100% organic liquid fertilizer. To prepare a batch, fill two-thirds of a bucket with grass clippings. Add water to fill up the bucket and set it aside, stirring the contents about once a day. After 3-4 days of steeping, you can strain it to remove the grass solids and use the liquid as a mild fertilizer. The grass solids can go straight into the compost pile!
As this is a very mild fertilizer, it should not burn your plants when applied. A good rule of thumb is ½ cup to 1 cup per plant, depending on its size. Pour it around the plant’s root system, keeping it off the foliage.
Bring Them To A Community Garden
Do you have a community garden nearby? Often, they have a communal compost pile for all their plant and yard waste. Leaving your lawn clippings with them will improve their compost quality. Plus, it keeps them out of landfill!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the best thing to do with grass clippings?
A: Use them as mulch! They’re one of the best free sources of mulch out there.
Q: Is it good to leave grass clippings on lawn?
A: Yes. See the benefits above.
Q: Is it better to collect grass clippings or leave them?
A: You should only collect clippings when they form large clumps in your yard or if you are dealing with lawn disease. Otherwise, let them mulch the lawn for you.
Q: How long does it take for grass clippings to decompose?
A: They generally break down in 1 to 4 months.
Q: Why you shouldn’t leave grass clippings?
A: If your lawn is diseased, or the number of grass clippings will choke out other grass, remove them from the lawn and don’t use them in your garden.
Q: Will a pile of grass clippings decompose?
A: Yes. Spread out, the grass clippings decompose in a few weeks. In a pile, they’ll break down over the course of a few months. They’re a great addition to compost piles for this reason.
Q: Can grass clippings cause weeds?
A: This is one of the downsides of using grass clippings. Sometimes weed seeds or grass seeds remain in the clippings and can germinate in your garden if they’re spread on garden soil. If you want to avoid this, compost them first.
Q: Can you mix grass clippings into soil?
A: You can, as a soil conditioner. They’ll add a little bit of phosphorus and potassium to the soil with higher amounts of nitrogen.
