The Grass Doctor

How do you use your cut grass to make fertilizer?

The real question is what are the combination of things needed to go with the cut grass, and the steps of the process, to achieve good fertilizer?

Public Comments

1. decompose it properly.
2. first you dig a pit up to 1meter depth in soil the length and breadth of the pit will be according to availability of cut grass. add cut grass, decomposing microbes and cowdungslurry with water in to the pit, layer after layer upto 1 feet above ground-layer. close the pit by using cow-dung slurry so that it looks like a dome and leave it for 1 month give turning and again by closing leave for 1 month. now the fertilizer i.e. compost will be ready
3. You can mix most any other plant material, including vegetable and fruit scraps to the grass to build compost. You need to include a portion of "browns" (dried grass, dead leaves, hay or straw, or even news print) to the "greens" (green grass and vegetable and fruit scraps). There are various opinions on the ratios but generally you should keep the amount of greens below one third of the total. You can simply put it all in a pile in the back yard or a hole in the ground, keep it moist, mix it from time to time to aerate and be patient. Lots of composting sites on-line where you can get more complete info.
4. Buy a mower with mulching blade(s). They will automatically grind clippings to very fine pieces which makes it easier for them to decompose rapidly. Grass clippings contain phopsphorous(P), an essential element for grass growth. If you cut your lawn at correct times (every 5 days during peak growing season, 7-14 days at other times) there will be no need for bagging & disposal , thus you are saving time and hassle. You will still need to add fertilizer with Nitrogen(N) and Potassium(K) during the growing season for optimum growth and health, but you will not need to apply a fertilizer with P. P is easily stored by soil and unless you have very sandy soil, you will build a healthy level of P in your soil by mulching clippings. You also want to check the PH of your lawn as well and periodically add Calcium to lawn once a year. This can be easily done with lime. Lime will also raise the PH of your lawn, which is often beneficial. If you want to know exactly what the level of the essential growth nutrients are above you can have soil tested by a lawn care company or take a sample of soil to local co-op extension. It usally cost between $10-$20. The results of which will give you a much clearer indication of the levels of nutrients you need to add.
5. add them to your compost bin.
6. Grass is loaded with nutrients, but the material in a lawnmower bag is not easy to compost. Grass clippings tend to contain lots of water. When they start to decompose, they release the water and turn into a slimy mass. The slime shuts out oxygen, the material smells foul and breaks down slowly. The grass effectively pickles itself, and it can take a very long time to compost. Mixing it with fallen leaves will absorb the excess water, let oxygen in and make nice compost. But I don't find that the grass from a lawnmower bag to be easy to mix. The perfect solution is to feed it all to a cow and gather the manure. Scattering the material in a chicken pen works well- the chickens will scratch the slimy lumps apart and add rich manure. Unfortunately, chickens like to eat wild onions, which make the eggs taste bad. The easiest solution is to spread the grass clippings as mulch. They will take more than one season to release their nutrients, but in the meantime they will keep the soil moist and choke out weeds. Just make sure there aren't too many seeds in the grass.
7. The grassman has the best answer. But if you try the other methods make sure you use it only on your grass. If you use it for shrubs or trees you will grow grass where you don`t want it. Thats for summer grass only. Winter grass does not grow seeds.
8. visit this link: http://livinggreenandsavinggreen.blogspot.com/ This is everything you need to know about compost. it's really easy to reuse your grass clippings and other yard waste to add nutrients to your soil.