Mulching with grass clippings?

[Kevin]

My lawn throws off a lot of grass clippings which I collect with a bagger on my tractor. Having run out of places to store the clippings, I am considering spreading the clippings under my palms (but but too near the tree base) and then adding a layer of mulch over the grass clippings. Since I probably have over 100 palms to do, I can save quite a bit of money over using a pure mulch mixture. Would probably need 250 bags of mulch if I just used mulch only.

However, I don't want to mess a good thing since the palms are for the most part doing quite well. It seems that when I spread the grass clippings out to about a 5 inch depth, the grass dries to a nice consistency and would work fine in terms of blocking emerging weeds in the palm beds. Haven't done it yet but I'm tempted.

Anyone tried this? Any ideas? Thanks a lot.

[Tampa Scott]

Kevin, I have used the grass clippings under mulch for years now. Works fine and saves lots of money on mulch. Scott

[MattyB]

I've been having my parents do the same thing to try and enrich their silty soil. Works great.

[Walter John]

No no no, this is not a good idea, at least not with grass clippings themselves. You MUST mix dry grass clippings with other forms of mulch else it will not breakdown. Mix with leaves and little sticks and composted materials/foods.

[plamfrong]

I did this for many years before my garden started dropping so many leaves it killed off most of the grass. I thought it worked pretty well although it was certainly more advantageous at certain times of the year. If I did it in spring it helped the soil to retain moisture through our dry summers and gave the plant a significant boost and competitive edge over the grass (when the grass was still competitive). It was not important to me for it to break down quickly since I wanted it to sit on the grass for a while and kill it. If I did it in summer or fall, it was still beneficial but it didn't kill the grass nearly as well.

Having said all that I think one might not expect the same results in every climate and soil type. I would experiment over a small area first before getting too carried away.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I agree with everybody here, use the grass! Different grass mulches differently though so a little care must be taken. Green grass will rob your soil of nitrogen so fertilize before you mulch. Sometimes the grass forms a mat so thick that water won't get through. Then you'll have to turn the grass into the soil with a fork or shovel and maybe mix it up like Wal suggests.

Geraldo

[LJG]

Just a hunch but I would say bad for Mulch but OK for compost. They break down too fast, and really don't work well as a true mulch. If you put too much in your garden, the decomposition stinks and can become too hot for some touchy plant roots.

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

I'm with LJG on this one.

While grass clippings are good for compost, they do break down too fast for mulch, unless you put them on really thick, in which case they get hot from decay, like unrotted manure, which, when you think about it, they are. In fact, they're the most primal poop there is, not even having gone through the animal yet.

I'd use them in the compost pile, or, use them sparingly under regular mulch.

If you pile them thick, keep them wet and they'll rot fast.

[freakypalmguy]

  LJG said:

Just a hunch but I would say bad for Mulch but OK for compost. They break down too fast, and really don't work well as a true mulch. If you put too much in your garden, the decomposition stinks and can become too hot for some touchy plant roots.

I've got a ride on mower with a double bagger on the back and once, I left the moist grass in the bags on accident and when I pulled it out to mow the next week, there was steam coming out of the bags It was hot and already dark brown.

[Scott D.]

If you can get a great big bag of pine shavings, mix that with the grass in a great big pile. Have it about 50/50. and turn it every few days.

In two weeks you will have a nice mulch compost for the garden.

Thats what I do.