SolveYourProblem
Lawn Care Article Series
Practical
Tips For The Perfect Lawn
How
to Compost Grass Clippings
Composting your grass clippings is not a difficult
process, though it may require a bit more work than you might
think and these clippings can sometimes cause problems in your
compost pile if not properly composted. Taking a few
simple precautions will prevent your grass from turning into a smelly
and slimy problem.
Grasscycling
is the easiest way to deal with your grass clippings. With grasscycling, you just live the grass clippings on the
lawn. If you lave grass clippings where they fall naturally
from the mower, they will act like any other natural fertilizer.
This will save you money on fertilizer and time on bagging
or moving grass cuttings. Any grass mower can become a grasscycler
– all you need to do is remove the grass catcher from your
lawn mower. You will need to make sure you are mowing when
the grass is dry to prevent the old clippings from clogging
up your lawn mower and keep the blade of your mower sharp.
Let the grass clipping lie like this is the simplest way to
deal with them, though it may not be practical if you have
young children or pets.
If the idea of grasscycling does not appeal to you, then here
is the proper way to compost your grass clippings.
Your freshly
trimmed grass has more moisture and a much higher
nitrogen level than most other garden materials. Freshly mowed
grass can often clump together and this is a problem because
there is no room for oxygen to get in. If you compost your
grass clippings like this, you may find that you have a serious
odor problem to deal with. If you follow the following process,
you should be able to reap the benefits of adding fresh grass
clippings to your compost and also avoid any sort of odor problem.
Grass can also develop a white mold if there is no air getting
in.
To start with, you want to add high carbon materials (also
referred to as browns) to your compost pile. These types of
materials include wood chips, leaves and broken up sticks.
Adding browns to your compost will prevent the grass clippings
from clumping up the compost and will help oxygen circulate.
You want to alternate your layers – a layer of grass clippings
and then one of browns.
You
can also get the oxygen in your compost pile circulate
by aerating it. Aerating or oxygenating your compost pile involves
the turning of the material. If you are going to be adding
grass clippings to your pile then you need to make sure that
you are aerating your compost pile on a regular basis. If your
pile is mainly made up of grass clippings then there is nothing
for the gas has nothing to ignite and the pile turns into a
disgusting slimy mess.
If you are going to be continually composting
your grass clippings then you are going to have more grass clippings than other
materials in your compost pile. What is the solution? The solution
is obviously multiple compost piles. You’ll go through a process
all summer where you are rotating between the piles and then
consolidating piles as they become more manageable.
If you do not want to have two or three compost piles on the
go, you can also try baking your grass clippings in
the sun for a day before adding them to your compost pile. You can
spread them on your driveway or any other flat surface for
at least a day to prevent the clippings from souring up your
compost pile.
If you have recently
applied pesticides or herbicides to your
lawn, then you do not want to add those grass clippings to
your compost pile until the rain has washed them clean. You
really need to be careful about adding clippings to your pile
that have come in contact with chemicals like these.
Another tip that you might find useful is to add
lime to your compost pile (or grass heap if it’s mainly made up of grass).
This will kick start the decomposing process and prevent mold
from forming and your pile from developing a nasty odor.
Follow these simple guidelines and you should have no problem
turning your old grass clippings into compost that will benefit
your whole garden. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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