On the whole, people need not worry too much about grass cuttings. Unless you're trying to cultivate a perfect "English" lawn, or a putting green on which to practice your golf game, clippings from a regularly cut lawn are best left in place. After a while, the loose grass will break down into organic mulch that feeds your lawn, and in northern climates (especially, because of the types of grasses used there) grass seeds are scattered back into your lawn, helping it stay thick and healthy.

Reasons people DO choose to rake up clippings (or attach a bagger to their mower) vary widely. Some are as simple as "Well, the mower has a bagger." Others insist on collecting clippings because "otherwise the kids and the dogs drag a mess into the house." In general, though, the most LEGITIMATE reason to collect grass clippings is if you have gone rather a long time between mowings, and considerable piles of cut grass lie on top of the lawn. Because these may block sunlight completely to the grass below, you do run the risk of getting yellow patches on your lawn, under the piles of grass. The yellow patches may start as the result of lacking sunlight, but the unhealthy grass which has gotten no light also becomes less resistant to mold and fungi, thus excacerbating the problem.

If you DO choose to remove grass cuttings, they do have a number of other uses in the garden. The simplest is to compost them- either as a "green" addition to an existing compost heap, or as the basis for a new one. Keep in mind that freshly cut grass is both dense and moist, and if left in large piles it may become VERY hot inside when it starts to break down. I have experienced a 4-foot pile of grass clippings get hot enough at the center to burn skin. Because of this, it's recommended that the clippings be mixed with leaves, and turned, every few days.

For the very same reason grass clippings cause yellow spots that damage your lawn, they can also be used to control weeds. A six-inch thick layer of grass clippings under trees and bushes will not only break down and nourish the larger and taller plants, but will all but eliminate low weeds in a non-toxic manner.

For a couple of seasons, I used my grass clippings as part of my "lasagna gardening" project. Lasagna gardening is the process of layering organic material- leaves, grass clippings, sand, mulch, even newspaper and kitchen waste- in raised beds, and "cooking" a rich loamy blend for herbs and vegetables, rather than just purchasing topsoil. I prefer this method for vegetable gardening, because the basis for your garden is "environmentally local," as a result of which your crops are stronger and less disease prone.

If you are feeling more adventurous with your gardening, decomposing grass clippings (optionally with a VERY small amount of horse manure added) provide a superb basis for growing mushrooms- anything from smaller button field mushrooms, to giant portabellas. Grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, which is excellent for growing mushrooms. I didn't actually learn this from a book, but by living next to a golf course where there were almost always wild edible mushrooms growing in the old grass clipping piles. One year, I decided to try to reproduce the "experiment" in my garden- and did so, with considerable success. Mushroom growing kits are widely available on the Internet- just make sure you get a kit for mushrooms to be grown outdoors, rather than in dark rooms.

Whether you leave them, or gather them, grass clippings have many excellent (and free!) uses in the garden!

Learn more about this author, Peter Messerschmidt.
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