Have a Question? (About Grass Clippings in Compost Piles)

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Hi! I am making a compost pile near my garden. Can you put grass clippings in your compost pile too. I know I can put leaves and coffee grounds in it, but was not sure of the grass clippings. Is there anything else I can put in a compost pile besides the things I already mentioned. Any suggestions would be appreciated very much. Thank you and have a great day. Karen in NC

-- Karen S. (KSaun54653@aol.com), April 17, 2001

Answers

Response to Have a Question?

Karen, Yes, grass clipping are great. we add all vegtables left over in the garden( that the chickens won't eat), leftovers from the refrigerator( excluding meats they smell when rotting and attract varmits) We also put in small sticks, leaves, shavings mixed with chicken manure, leaves, soil that a neigbor was going to haul to the dump. We also use grass clippings in our walking paths in the garden, it keeps your shoes clean when you go to pick and the garden is wet. We use it as a mulch in our flowerbeds too, helps hold in the moisture.

-- Kelle in MT. (kvent1729@aol.com), April 17, 2001.

Response to Have a Question?

Grass, leaves garden leftovers, horse, cow, goat, rabbit, chicken manure (no cat , dog or human feces due to desiese potentials).

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 17, 2001.

Response to Have a Question?

Hi, Karen, I agree with all the above mentioned additions plus: Weeds (but not those gone to seed), dead house plants, all food scraps and fruit wastes, pet and human hair, shredded paper, paper toweling, dryer lint, and the like. I also toss in a shovel full of garden dirt every once in a while. All this stuff turns into beautiful "black gold" that your garden will just love. Don't put in grease, bones, dairy products or meat. They take a long time to break down and smell to high heaven plus attract every critter within smelling distance.

-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), April 17, 2001.

Well, obviously from all these posts, everyone composts their grass clippings pretty much. I even scope out neighbors to see what they put on their lawns, and if they don't use chemicals and pesticides, I'll even ask them for theirs.

One thing I'd like to mention about grass clippings in general is if you have a large amount at one time and just heap them on fresh, they tend to form big nasty clumps in the pile that are alternately slippery and stinky, and other ones that tend to dry out and mummify. To get around this problem, I sometimes leave the clippings on the lawn for a day or two to dry out before gathering them up (rake, hay fork, or run over 'em again with the mower with the bag on this time, depending on conditions) and putting them on the pile.

Interspersing the layers of grass clippings with dry matter, such as straw or dead leaves prevents this problem too. Some people save bags of dry leaves in fall to do this in the summer, but I'm always constrained for time in fall (winter comes really quick here! and hard!) and just pile up all my leaves, and the next summer when I'm getting lawn clippings, I just plan on using the fork and doing a bit more turning to mix them in instead.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), April 17, 2001.


Yes, I agree w/the above post. Actually, fall leaves and ,fresh grass clippings make up most of my piles. I like to dump the grass clips in a line low enough to mow over and pile leaves on top or mix in slightly; then run the mower over the whole pile (or windrows); this clips them up even more and mixes the leaves too; then just rake into a pile to compost. I think the ratio should be something like 10 bags of leaves for each bag of fresh grass clips 10:1. Anyone remember this ratio? I just do it by sight anymore and forget the original ratio.

-- JimR (jroberts1@cas.org), April 18, 2001.


There is one exception to grass in the compost pile: do not put in bermuda grass. It could spread to your garden. It puts out runners and it is extrememly hardy and difficult to get rid of. Not worth taking a chance.

-- connie in nm (karrellewis@juno.com), April 19, 2001.

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