On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:59:45 -0400, Chris Owens
wrote:

John DeBoo wrote:

Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again

The only problem with that idea is, if the clippings include
seed, you're tilling it right in where you don't want it to
grow. Other than that, this plan works just fine; we till in our
crops every fall in the veggie beds with no problem at all.

Chris Owens


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I just recently learned that I should mulch my grass clippings, leaving
them on the lawn. I was bagging the grass early on basically to use as
mulch in the garden. When I started doing that the grass now needs cut
every two or three days and looks better than in July when we had above
average rainfall by 2.88 inches. At our current rate we will be about
average for August.

Contrary to what many people believe, mulching the clippings does not
contribute to thatch build up.

sparkie