Because grass is a green material and tends to form a mat after being cut and piled, simply tossing grass clippings into your compost pile can result in a slow and/or smelly compost pile. This is not true, especially if you are talking about fresh grass clippings. One may think that grass clipping composting is as easy as just tossing the grass into the compost pile and then walking away. But if you are using grass clippings from a non-residential location such as a farm or a golf course, there is a significant chance that the herbicides used on these grass clippings may take weeks or even months to break down and therefore, can pose a threat to plants that receive compost made from these kinds of grass clippings. If you are composting residential lawn clippings, then the herbicide that can legally be used on your lawn is required to be able to break down within a matter of a few days and should not pose any further danger to other plants that receive compost made from these grass clippings. Many people also have concerns about composting lawn grass that has been treated with herbicide and how that will affect their compost. But if you have allowed your grass clippings to dry out completely before you add them to your compost pile (they will be brown in color), they are then considered brown material. A compost pile needs to have a proper balance of green and brown material in order to decompose properly, so when you are composting with grass clippings that are freshly cut, you need to make sure that you also add browns, such as dry leaves. Most importantly, you need to be aware that freshly cut grass is considered a ‘green’ material in your compost pile. If you need to remove your lawn clippings though, you still need to know more about the process of making compost with grass clippings. In fact, allowing grass clippings to decompose on your lawn naturally will help to add nutrients to the soil and reduce your lawn’s need for fertilizer. Cutting your lawn at the proper height and with the proper frequency means that the clippings will decompose naturally on your lawn without posing any harm. Gathering up cut grass to compost can be a big chore and if you mow your lawn properly, it is an unnecessary chore. The first thing to know before adding grass clippings to your compost pile is that you don’t have to compost your grass clippings. What to Know Before Composting Lawn Grass Knowing more about composting with grass clippings means that your overall compost pile will be better off. Making compost with grass clippings seems like a logical thing to do, and it is, but you do need to be aware of some things about composting lawn grass before you go ahead and do it.

Are grass clippings good for compost