Penny, I'm hoping that others might also chip in on this, but my experience
was the opposite of yours. In Indiana, I collected my clippings and used
them for mulch as well. However, as the grass composted beneath the 'crust'
formed by the dry grass on top,, I found that it cut back on plant growth.
I was told that the composting grass clippings robbed the area of nitrogen
and that I should first compost the grass clippings separately, turning them
frequently, and adding urea before spreading them out in the garden.

I constructed a pen where I'd dump my clippings and would toss in a cup of
urea pellets each time. I kept a pitch fork handy and would "turn" the new
grass into the old. It composted fairly rapidly and made a good topping for
the garden. In the fall, I'd empty my pen of the balance of the composted
grass and spread it on the garden before tilling.

--

Tom Gauldin, Las Vegas NV
NEW EMAIL
NEW PHONE (702) 263-8804 voice/fax

"Penny Morgan" wrote in message
. ..
You can use the grass clippings as mulch if you want to, but the drawback
is
that it won't look very fresh like mulch or pinestraw. Grass is actually
a