Okay, I'm new here, but I have used grass clippings in my garden since 1972, so I have a little experience. Some things I know are not true are that grass clippings will "steal nitrogen from the soil." They contain about 4% nitrogen,more if you have clover in the lawn. It does make a difference whether you till them in or leave them on the surface. Tilled in, the microbes that break them down are cut off from the inexhaustilbe supply of nitrogen in our atmosphere. Some free living microbes, as well as the ones living on the roots of legumes, can take nitrogen directly from the air. Another thing is that you simply never have to "dig them in." I've left my clipings right on the surface for over three decades, the way nature has done with organic materials for millions of years.And they've produced all the following benefits year after year: 1. They eliminate weeding, permanently. You don't even have to pull weeds already in your garden, even if they're taller than you. Just trample them flat and cover them with a good 3 or 4 inches of grass clippings. If you can't get many clippings at one time, either just do small areas each time you mow, or use newspapers to stretch a limited amount of clippings. Wet them, lay them down first, then cover with enough clippings to hide them. Don't use slick parts of the paper with a lot of color in them. There's debate over whether the ink is harmful. 2. You will need no other fertilizer, ever. I haven't spent one cent on fertilizers in 34 years. The grass clippings will supply all the nurtients your crops need, and better than any chemical fertilizer can. 3. The clippings will transform the worst soil- clay or sand- into the best. It's hard to believe the black, fluffy, fertile soil I have today came even from the same planet as the horrible heavy red clay I started with. 4. The clippings will conserve water by virtually eliminating evaporation and keeping the soil much cooler. Cooler soil means cooler plants, which means less transpiration- plant sweating. 5. The clippings will lead to an explosion in the populations of soil microorganisms and earthworms. I bought 500 "red wrigglers" in '72 or '73, and I've given away many times that many since, with tons still left in my soil.The clippings provide not only an ideal environment for them, but an inexhaustible supply of food. Oh, on the debate of CO2 absorption by grass Vs forests0 kind of not relevant to here- I read an intereting article in Discover Mag over a year ago. It's been found that forests are actually not a net sink for CO2. They give off just as much, in the decay of organic materials on the forest floor, as the trees themselves absorb. But that certainly should never serve as an excuse to cut them down like we are all over the world. They have many, many other benefits. If anyone doubts any of the above- and I admit it "sounds too good to be true"- simply test it on part of your garden or even a single plant.I know you'll be amazed at the result.

There's no need to use vermiculite. Idaho gardener mentioned sulfur and coffee grounds to combat the high pH that is fairly common in the intermountain west. since you're planting in a lasagna garden, the pH of the soil won't be a factor. Although coffee is acidic, the acid is water soluble, so the acidity ends up in the cup and the grounds are pretty close to neutral. You should also test the soil before doing anything about pH. Although most of the intermountain west has high pH soil, My understanding is that there are some places in and around Denver that have acidic soil (I think I read that it has to do with something in the granite).

toxcrusadr-- the *path* is supposedly 8' wide, not the spreader. And the path does seem to be... I didn't stop to measure it though : ) If that sounds funny though, I wonder if that's why I ran out of fertilizer sooner than I expected to... I'm not sure I'm up to all that calculating-- can I assume though that the higher the number, the more grains it puts out at once? The people at the store (who seem very knowledgeable, I mean) said that I want one bag to cover a quarter acre. Which I think is about the amount of grass we have, maybe a bit more. We have a tiny bit over a half acre total but that of course includes the house/pool/driveway/pavers out back etc. Regardless, that bag lasted for a bout 1/3 of my grass. I went back for 2 more bags and changed the setting on the spreader-- think from 8 to 6 and got some more range out of it. Still had to open the third bag though. Sigh. Maybe I should look for a highly rated spreader and buy that. This one was borrowed from my brother-in-law and I think I have found it online and if I'm right about which it is (the Scotts classic drop spreader), I see that it gets bad reviews, lots of them. Same reasons. I'm learning a lot of lessons lately, the hard way... Isn't that supposed to be the best way though? Or something. Oh and just FYI, that's only one of several bare patches. And there are plenty of weeds, trust me. It's hard to tell from this one picture but they are everywhere, all kinds. Some areas have less but some areas are also straight weeds so it all balances out, ha.

Thanks for the responses... This isn't a vegetable plot. It is an ornamental garden. The plants are well-established for the most part. Although (my personal opinion) the plants are being moved around a bit too often for this dry hot weather. I could make an onsite compost pile (or 20)nobody would try and stop me but I was looking for a quick fix. LOL People around here seem more interested in plants than soil. I like dirt so am sticking to that part of the process. I guess I have silty sand because this stuff is HARD. It is almost as hard as clay but when you do get the clods to bust they break up into fine pieces instead of chunks like clay does. The fine bits just reform into a hard layer once it is watered and left to dry. The area is mulched but the water just goes through the mulch and runs off the beds and into the paths. We do water but I do not think it is a very effective system. I've been digging holes and trying to break up the top soil and watering into the holes instead of watering the top of the mulch or soil. I guess I'll just make some "community garden" compost and keep picking out what I can from around the dump area to use to amend the soil. I can "liberate" the grass clippings and hide them until fall and start a regular compost pile and maybe some leaf mold. I can find a place that is a little out of sight near the garden and get some wire fence from the junk yard and see what happens. Thanks again.