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Soil, Compost & Mulch

using neighbor's grass clippings

16 years ago

I am starting lasagna beds this year. Really like the idea of using "found" stuff rather than buying bags of stuff from the nursery. I've read stories of other folks picking up the yard waste from their neighbors.

But... does that mean that if my neighbors have sprayed their grass with chemicals, cut their grass and put it in the bag, I pick the bag and use it as a layer in my lasagna bed - that I am getting those chemicals in the subsequent vegetables? At this time of year this is grass that has mostly died.

Are we talking tiny traces of chemicals or enough that it isn't worth it? We work so hard at removing chemicals from our diet that I would hate to think I am putting them all back in.

Thanks

Lori

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Comments (3)

bullthistle
16 years ago
There probably isn't enough of a concentration of chemicals and most will wash through the soil with rain, but what do you think you get when you buy commercial if it doesn't say organic?

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials
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User
16 years ago
I did some web searching on glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp. It gave me the willies to hear about its danger to health, but I also learned a bit about the breakdown of 'chemical' fertilizer, herbicide, and insecticide. They are supposed to be designed to break down by natural processes. Some studies quantified the conditions for optimum breakdown and thankfully those are the conditions we are creating with organic gardens; lots of organic material, pH in the range of 6.2 to 7, and active biological conditions. Within a matter of weeks to months, the concentrations of chemicals would drop by something like 98%. If you're starting out with a mild degree of chemical contamination, it will be mostly gone by the time your plants grow.

I think the act of composting will destroy most of the chemicals, and tilling that compost into the soil will take away most of the rest.
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grass (fresh) can and does mat into a giant plug of garbage. the nitrogen load can be an issue (Harbin you're part right, but when do you put a half-pound of fertilizer on the ground? one can easily add that much or more dried weight grass, so the excess N2 can be an issue.... that said, if you put it on green and wet my main issue has been that it can form this giant, stinky plug nothing else gets past--as mentioned, rain sloughs off it. Nothing grows through it, and things in the middle can be over-fed or suffocated by it. Grass can mulch, but too much can be a disaster. Drying it is the best solution I've seen thus far.
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The only thing I would be concerned about is if you treat your law with weed killer. That could transfer to the plants in the bed you are mulching. The worms are usually good.
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I think you have some very good materials there. I really don't think it have to be complicated science. Personally I would just put them down now, just mulch all your raised beds with them, I don't think it matters which goes first because it'll be composting over the winter and by spring time when it's warm enough for growing all the materials would be broken down. Problem with having a thin layer is that if you have just scattered stuff on top, they oxidized and dehydrates (if no rain) and doesn't compost well as in a big pile. It may be better to have grass clippings on top because it creates a good seal to keep the soil warm, retains the moisture and help the composting activities. If you were growing at the same time you put these materials down, I would put more broken down/composted materials down first, then the more green and coarse on top. Stuff like unbroken down woodchips can tie up the nitrogen in your soil a bit if you mixed in while it haven't composted. But since you mixed your wood shavings with chicken manure, and leaving it over the winter to compost, it is not a problem. I don't believe in doing all the complicated composting methods and separating things, organic matters is organic matters for me. So I would just throw them in. You can check out the youtube channel "OneYardRevolution" where the guy improved his soil simply by mulching with leaves and adding compost over time.
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It's not always easy to do with just grass clippings, but if you can get a thick layer of mulch, then seeds become a non-problem. It looks like you live in an urban area, so you may not have this option, but I let areas of my yard grow tall. I then use a swing blade (like a sickle,) or a pair of hedge shears to cut it and make a hay. For many crops, a 4" - 8" layer of this hay is the best mulch I have found. I apply it fresh and it dries perfectly in place. Grass clippings work great mixed into the hay. Very few weeds pop through, and those that do are so weak by the time they reach the light, that they pull with ease. There's a few older books that were written on such mulches by Ruth Stout. Not as popular as those books and articles once were, but the results speak for themselves.
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Kimmsr
16 years ago
Most of the "weed" killers that Joe Homeowner can purchase are relatively quickly washed off the grass blades, but it is better if you can wait two or three cuttings before picking those grass clippings up. If the yard has a commercial lawn service spraying that can be much more persistant stuff and I would be very leery of using those clippings at all since one of the products available to those "licensed" applicators is known to be potent wnough to kill plants after composting for 3 years.
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