What to Do With Grass Clippings After Mowing
If you’ve mowed a lawn even one time, then you’ve probably noticed that you can produce a significant amount of grass clippings when you mow. Many people simply discard their grass clippings but doing so is somewhat wasteful if you are familiar with a few ways to use your grass clippings after mowing. This chapter will show you a few of the best ways that you can repurpose your grass clippings to benefit your lawn and garden.
Leave Your Grass Clippings on Your Lawn
The first way that you can make use of your grass clippings is by simply leaving them on your lawn after you mow. A small to moderate amount of grass clippings will decompose and enrich the soil below. This decomposition will eventually benefit your grass as it provides more nutrients for the roots to feed on.
If you produce so many grass clippings that they appear as large clumps that sit on top of your grass, you should not leave them behind as they can essentially block the sun from reaching your still living grass. But a small number of grass clippings left on your lawn will be a benefit.
Compost Your Grass Clippings
One of the best ways to use grass clippings is to gather them and include them in your compost pile. Grass clippings are a form of “green” compost, meaning that they contain enough nitrogen to facilitate the composting process. Composting your grass clippings eventually leads to a healthy soil amendment that you can use to support your favorite plants.
Use Your Grass Clippings as Garden Mulch
Our final tip for using grass clippings is to use them right away as a form of mulch. Grass clippings can be as effective as any other type of organic mulch. Laying grass clippings in your garden beds will help to moderate soil temperature and moisture. They will also continue to break down, becoming valuable nutrients for your plants.
Using your grass clippings as mulch is not a wise idea if you have weeds growing in your lawn. In such cases, using your clippings as mulch will spread weeds and their seeds to your garden beds. However, if you do a good job of keeping your lawn weed free, then you should have no problem using your grass clippings as mulch.