Green Grass Clippings Mulch

Ozark · June 17, 2016

I hand-weeded a row and put mulch down around most of my pepper plants today, a miserable job in 91-degree heat and high humidity. I mulched 6 Gypsy, 4 Shish!to, 2 Cajun Belle, 4 Jalapeno, and 3 Anaheim plants. I'm sharing this because in my experience, anyway, mulching in this way makes a tremendous difference in the outcome of my pepper crop. The plants REALLY like this and they grow and set peppers like crazy once it's done.

As you can see, I support the plants with wire tomato cages tied together. There's a soaker hose laying on the ground the length of the row within about 3" of each plant. I keep my garden paths tilled, but I hand-weed the pepper row one last time, then mow and catch grass from our lawn that I've allowed to grow pretty tall and lush. I spread that about 6" deep in the pepper row, taking care to keep the grass about an inch away from the plant stems.

Tomorrow those grass clippings will be so hot I won't be able to hold my hand under them - they really heat up. This is why I don't want the mulch actually touching my plants, and it's my belief that the fermenting mulch cooks and kills crabgrass and weed seeds that are near the top of the ground, then smothers the deeper-seeded grass and weeds when they try to grow. Now I won't have to weed that row again this season.

This mulching method is a job but it gets rid of weeds and it stabilizes the ground moisture and temperature around the roots of my plants. I do this to my whole garden, and in my experience peppers and tomatoes thrive especially well after this is done. Works for me!

twillis2252 · June 17, 2016

If you have a system that works for you and is successful that's great! Thanks for sharing.

kath · June 17, 2016

Love those grass clippings- tomorrow is mowing day! I never have enough to put them on 6" deep at one time but shoot for about 3" and put more on when I can. The worms love this, too.

kath

Kazedwards · June 17, 2016

I use them too. I don't go 6" deep but would if I had enough. It makes a huge difference in my garden. I am almost no till and with out the grass clippings I probably would be able to break the top of my clay soil without a hammer. Lol

-Zach

brownrexx · June 17, 2016

I love grass clippings as mulch and I also compost some of them. They really heat up the compost pile.

Salsacharley · June 17, 2016

Why don't you mulch your isles too? Seems like that would put an end to all your weeding pleasure.

Ozark · June 18, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Why don't you mulch your isles too? Seems like that would put an end to all your weeding pleasure.

I do, but it's important to get mulch down in the rows first before the weeds get away from me and veggies get stunted. I can always till the pathways another time or two while I'm getting mulch down in the rows. My garden is 35' x 50' and mulching the whole thing takes several mowings and a few weeks.

Once I can get grass clippings down in the whole garden there are other benefits. No mud, I can walk in the garden right after a heavy rain. Also, I never have any tomato hornworms - little black wasps (that don't sting people) nest in the mulch, and they prey on hornworms. I weeded and mulched my Sweet Ozark Orange tomato row today. Making progress!

oakley · June 18, 2016

Looks great. I do like when someone finds what works for them.

In my climate that method would be a disaster. A damp choking heavy moldy mess.
Any bare soil is instant mud wrestling pit. Why i do not till.

Ozark · June 18, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by oakley

In my climate that method would be a disaster. A damp choking heavy moldy mess.
Any bare soil is instant mud wrestling pit. Why i do not till.

Oakley, I think our climates are pretty similar - and I have clay soil too. What helps this method work for me is that we're on a south-facing hill and there's an 18-inch drop in the 35 feet between the top and bottom ends of my garden. I've got real good drainage.

A friend here has a garden that's dead-level and he has just the problem you describe. I keep telling him he needs to build some raised beds.

MrSalvage · June 18, 2016

Very interesting post and is what i was gonna do. I don't have a bagger for my rider yet. So it's really really a lot of work. I have tried to push all the grass into one row after cutting. So I could come back in a little easier fashion and place it into my cart. However when I get done getting into one row there is not much left of it. It is what I would call a really fine mulch...

I really need to get a bagger...

kath · June 18, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

Very interesting post and is what i was gonna do. I don't have a bagger for my rider yet. So it's really really a lot of work. I have tried to push all the grass into one row after cutting. So I could come back in a little easier fashion and place it into my cart. However when I get done getting into one row there is not much left of it. It is what I would call a really fine mulch...

I really need to get a bagger...

Yeah, you really need to treat yourself to one.

Kazedwards · June 18, 2016

I have very heavy clay too. If I don't put some sort of much on it I will get huge cracks and rock solid. It is a mess when it rains with or without the mulch in the spring though. Then summer hits and it gets hot and humid. We will have a few weeks without rain and then a storm. But the soil gets so hard without much that the water will just run off and not soak in. If I mulch the water doesn't run off. I don't go 6" deep though. I start with 1-2" inches and add layers to it through out the year. My yard isn't to big so it takes 2-4 mowings to cover all the rows and this year I have a bigger garden.

-Zach

Tracydr · June 19, 2016

I had terrible clay when I moved to Lawton,OK. I used tons of manure mixed with pine shavings from the horse stalls. I even spread the stuff all around where we walked,which allowed the Bermuda,which was nonexistent when we moved there,to fill in. This held the ground together so that we wouldn't get our boots sucked off. The combination worked very well and had incredibly productive peaches. I also grew in large mounds or raised beds.
This winter,I'm going to do some sort of clover down my walkways and anything not being planted for food will have cover crops. Of course,the cover crops could also be food. Fava beans,peas,mustards,turnips,radishes, mmmm!
Speaking of that,I should throw down some cowpeas in the area I'm not using right now!

**Lee** · June 19, 2016

Don't use grass clippings from lawns that have been treated with 2-4D in the previous 6 months. The residual herbicide will impact your tomatoes and presumably the pepper plants as well.

TomNJ · June 19, 2016

I mulched with spoiled hay for over 30 years. But now that I moved to Virginia I have not been able to find good seedless spoiled hay, plus I don't like the mold in it, so I switched to grass clippings. We cut two acres around the house so I can mulch the entire 50' 50' garden in just one mowing. I call it "short hay" and it works beautifully. Not to mention it is free!

TomNJ/VA

June 17, 2016	#1
Ozark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ozark, Mo. Posts: 201	Green Grass Clippings Mulch I hand-weeded a row and put mulch down around most of my pepper plants today, a miserable job in 91-degree heat and high humidity. I mulched 6 Gypsy, 4 Shish!to, 2 Cajun Belle, 4 Jalapeno, and 3 Anaheim plants. I'm sharing this because in my experience, anyway, mulching in this way makes a tremendous difference in the outcome of my pepper crop. The plants REALLY like this and they grow and set peppers like crazy once it's done. As you can see, I support the plants with wire tomato cages tied together. There's a soaker hose laying on the ground the length of the row within about 3" of each plant. I keep my garden paths tilled, but I hand-weed the pepper row one last time, then mow and catch grass from our lawn that I've allowed to grow pretty tall and lush. I spread that about 6" deep in the pepper row, taking care to keep the grass about an inch away from the plant stems. Tomorrow those grass clippings will be so hot I won't be able to hold my hand under them - they really heat up. This is why I don't want the mulch actually touching my plants, and it's my belief that the fermenting mulch cooks and kills crabgrass and weed seeds that are near the top of the ground, then smothers the deeper-seeded grass and weeds when they try to grow. Now I won't have to weed that row again this season. This mulching method is a job but it gets rid of weeds and it stabilizes the ground moisture and temperature around the roots of my plants. I do this to my whole garden, and in my experience peppers and tomatoes thrive especially well after this is done. Works for me!

June 17, 2016	#4
Kazedwards Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 368	I use them too. I don't go 6" deep but would if I had enough. It makes a huge difference in my garden. I am almost no till and with out the grass clippings I probably would be able to break the top of my clay soil without a hammer. Lol -Zach __________________ -Zach

June 18, 2016	#12
Kazedwards Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 368	I have very heavy clay too. If I don't put some sort of much on it I will get huge cracks and rock solid. It is a mess when it rains with or without the mulch in the spring though. Then summer hits and it gets hot and humid. We will have a few weeks without rain and then a storm. But the soil gets so hard without much that the water will just run off and not soak in. If I mulch the water doesn't run off. I don't go 6" deep though. I start with 1-2" inches and add layers to it through out the year. My yard isn't to big so it takes 2-4 mowings to cover all the rows and this year I have a bigger garden. -Zach __________________ -Zach

June 19, 2016	#13
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I had terrible clay when I moved to Lawton,OK. I used tons of manure mixed with pine shavings from the horse stalls. I even spread the stuff all around where we walked,which allowed the Bermuda,which was nonexistent when we moved there,to fill in. This held the ground together so that we wouldn't get our boots sucked off. The combination worked very well and had incredibly productive peaches. I also grew in large mounds or raised beds. This winter,I'm going to do some sort of clover down my walkways and anything not being planted for food will have cover crops. Of course,the cover crops could also be food. Fava beans,peas,mustards,turnips,radishes, mmmm! Speaking of that,I should throw down some cowpeas in the area I'm not using right now! Last edited by Tracydr; June 19, 2016 at 08:05 AM.

June 19, 2016	#14
Lee Tomatopalooza™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NC-Zone 7 Posts: 2,188	Don't use grass clippings from lawns that have been treated with 2-4D in the previous 6 months. The residual herbicide will impact your tomatoes and presumably the pepper plants as well. __________________ Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put one in a fruit salad. Cuostralee - The best thing on sliced bread.

June 17, 2016	#2
twillis2252 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: SC & NC Posts: 258	If you have a system that works for you and is successful that's great! Thanks for sharing.

June 17, 2016	#3
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Love those grass clippings- tomorrow is mowing day! I never have enough to put them on 6" deep at one time but shoot for about 3" and put more on when I can. The worms love this, too. kath

June 17, 2016	#5
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	I love grass clippings as mulch and I also compost some of them. They really heat up the compost pile.

June 17, 2016	#6
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	Why don't you mulch your isles too? Seems like that would put an end to all your weeding pleasure.

June 18, 2016	#8
oakley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: NewYork 5a Posts: 2,303	Looks great. I do like when someone finds what works for them. In my climate that method would be a disaster. A damp choking heavy moldy mess. Any bare soil is instant mud wrestling pit. Why i do not till.

June 18, 2016	#10
MrSalvage Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: VA - Zone 7A Posts: 344	Very interesting post and is what i was gonna do. I don't have a bagger for my rider yet. So it's really really a lot of work. I have tried to push all the grass into one row after cutting. So I could come back in a little easier fashion and place it into my cart. However when I get done getting into one row there is not much left of it. It is what I would call a really fine mulch... I really need to get a bagger...

June 19, 2016	#15
TomNJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Floyd VA Posts: 771	I mulched with spoiled hay for over 30 years. But now that I moved to Virginia I have not been able to find good seedless spoiled hay, plus I don't like the mold in it, so I switched to grass clippings. We cut two acres around the house so I can mulch the entire 50' 50' garden in just one mowing. I call it "short hay" and it works beautifully. Not to mention it is free! TomNJ/VA