Anyone here use grass clippings for mulch?

I think it's a great idea. I will give you free mulch, be at my house Saturday.












Bring a rake

I throw grass clippings into my compost pile. You're gonna get weeds in your garden no matter what you do. But I've found that mulching has greatly reduced the weeds. This year I did bare dirt, then about an inch of compost, then about 3 inches of mulch (organic shredded hardwood). The weeds have been minimal. This is the best my garden has ever looked. Ever.

What's the deal there?

If you dump a bag of green lawn clippings in a compost bin or pile, they will mat up, get sour, and take forever to decompose. No air can get in there among them.

You have to dry them, like your friend does, or get them really mixed in well with your soil and brown compost matter.

I've read that compost bins get hot enough to cook and kill seeds. But I still don't throw weeds in mine,

quote:

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If you dump a bag of green lawn clippings in a compost bin or pile, they will mat up, get sour, and take forever to decompose. No air can get in there among them.

You have to dry them, like your friend does, or get them really mixed in well with your soil and brown compost matter.

I've read that compost bins get hot enough to cook and kill seeds. But I still don't throw weeds in mine,

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Yeah you'd have to have one of those composters that you can rotate to mix them in well or get in there with a pitchfork and mix it in well if you just have a bin.

Last year I just used 5 gal buckets and tossed kitchen waste in them, and mixed in some dirt. I had one on the deck right outside the kitchen. Open the door and dump, snap the lid on and shake it up well. Then when it was about 2/3 full I would take it down to the garden and add it to the others. By the time I filled up 2 of them, I would dump the 3rd bucket, which was the oldest, on the garden. I also tried to chop up larger items into smaller pieces so they would break down faster.

I'm thinking of building an actual compost bin this year. I've seen some plans online that look simple enough, and I have a nice spot near the garden that gets a lot of sun all day so it will get pretty hot. Going to stain the outside a dark brown so it blends with the foliage and also retain heat.