- Place grass clippings in the compost
- Ensure good ventilation
- Compost grass clippings with flowers and seeds
When mowing the lawn, depending on the size and length of the grass, there is a lot of lawn clippings. Lawn clippings make very good compost if you compost it properly. Under no circumstances should you compost large amounts of this waste at once without mixing it well.
Grass clippings need to be mixed with more solid materials for composting
Place grass clippings in the compost
If, after mowing the lawn, you compost all the grass clippings at once, it is often not just the compost heap that is full. Also, the cut does not rot, but develops into a wet, smelly mass.
This is due to the fact that the mostly very damp lawn clippings prevent air circulation. As a result, the microorganisms and bacteria cannot decompose the material. The grass does not rot, but begins to ferment.
You must therefore always mix lawn clippings with other, airy materials before you put them on the compost.
Ensure good ventilation
To prevent the lawn clippings from forming a solid mass, put coarser materials in between. Shredded shrubbery, for example when trimming a hedge, is ideal.
It makes sense to always have a supply of chopped shrubs in the garden. Then you can mix and compost the lawn clippings after each mowing.
Alternatively, other compostable material such as:
- small amounts of paper
- torn egg cartons
- wood wool
- dry foliage
It is important that the material is as dry as possible and not too small.
Compost grass clippings with flowers and seeds
Unless you mow your lawn almost every day, it is inevitable that lawn weeds will develop. These begin to flower and sometimes set seeds very quickly.
Nevertheless, you can also compost such lawn clippings. Most seeds are rendered harmless by the hot rotting. You don't have to worry about sowing unwanted plants with the compost.
However, this does not apply to the roots of couch grass and groundweed. These plants are so hardy that their roots won't die in the compost. If you use such compost later, you unintentionally spread these "weeds".
tips
An alternative to mixing with other materials is to let the grass clippings dry before composting. As a result, the moisture is lost and the grass no longer prevents air circulation.