Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

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SteveHGraham
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Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Today I mowed the yard again. It looks like you have to do it more than once a week here during the wet season. Of course, I have a new question.

The first time I mowed the deep grass in the small pasture near the house, I ended up with a whole lot of clippings. I had so much, I had to plan before I cut, so the clippings would not be thrown in areas where I hadn't mowed yet. I didn't want to have to drive through them, because they would make it harder to mow. After a week, the old clippings are piled up in some places, and they don't seem to be going away in a hurry.

I am way too lazy to bag the clippings from several acres. Will this stuff ever go away, or am I slowly turning my pasture into a pile of permanent rotten grass?

Maybe it's not so bad when it's not raining almost every day.

I have to get the bush hog going. I can tell the garden tractor is not the ideal tool for this job.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
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mcostello
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by mcostello »

What I have heard on the Internet (it's got to be true") is if the clippings are tilled under then the soil's microbes eat them up. Could try sprinkling dirt on them and then listen carefully. )
John Hasler
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by John Hasler »

Be patient. It will go away. You should try to spread it out more or less evenly.
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neanderman
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by neanderman »

They will eventually decompose in place, replenishing much of the nitrogen they absorbed.

The finest farmland in the continental US is the former tall grass prairie area of western Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. For roughly 10,000 years, following the Wisconsinian glacier, the tall grasses grew, dying back in the fall, eventually depositing up to 6 feet of the richest topsoil around.

One option that might be available is a mulching attachment for your mower. It will "shred" the grass, enabling it to decompose more quickly. That's really the best of both worlds -- it's basically "composting in place."
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SteveM
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by SteveM »

Mulching is the way to go, and be sure that your blades are SHARP, otherwise it will not chop the grass up fine enough.

I haven't used a bag in 20 years.

Steve
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Only time I use a grass catcher on the lawn, is fall. We have a bunch of Cottonwood trees, and it's more than the mower can mulch. Easier to just vac them up and toss 'em on the pile.

Bill
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I can't wait to get ahead of this stuff.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by Bill Shields »

grass clippings are the reason you put the foundation of your house 12" (or more) above construction grade.

Grass grows up, fed by clippings....
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steamin10
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by steamin10 »

Ever get ahead... Not really. I just mow the drying grass into the lawn and it dusts out and keeps from making rot spots in the turf. When constant rains keep things green the clippings ferment and kill spots in the turf, so I have to be diligent and remow the clippings to move them around, or bare spots appear that allow various weeds to establish in the dead patches. In early spring I jog around with a pump sprayer and spot treat dandelion plantain and such noxious weeds, that are a sign of poor ground. But I never fertilize, Ispot seed bad spots, and generally tweek natural grouwth by cutting at about 2.5 inches to 3 inches in fall, like now, A lofty goal as break downs on equipment make for really tall stalky grass, that is the norm for back areas.

I plan to gather sheet steel and a gearbox to build a bush hog for my compact diesel to handle 'rough' mowing, as it is insane beating on consumer finish mowers to keep the grass in check. See ''Never enough time' for the latest disaster story.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by Bill Shields »

goats...get goats....

will eat everything down to a nub, including poison ivy...and keep it that way...
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John Hasler
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by John Hasler »

will eat everything down to a nub

*Everything*. Including the garden and the chrome off your truck (after denting the hood and roof).

"Fences: if they won't hold water they won't hold goats."
spro
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Re: Will Dead Grass Clippings Ever Go Away?

Post by spro »

Different goats for different folks.
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