Too much green and not enough brown

10 years ago

So I have lots of grass clippings but they have weeds and some weed seeds in them. I leave most of the grass clippings on the grass but I bag a few turns of the mower near by flower beds. I don't want to use them with my regular compost for my vegetable beds because of the amount of weed seeds. I don't have enough browns to compost these and save my shredded leaves for the best compost. Does anyone have any creative ideas for lots of grass and weed clippings that come from mowing my yard? I sure don't want to put them on my beds and have to pull more weeds later.

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Comments (7)

Kimmsr
10 years ago
Grass clippings have a Carbon to Nitrogen ratio of around 12:1 which means they can be digested pretty fast which means the bacteria digesting them can generate a lot of heat which can "cook" those "weed" seeds. Many years ago when I still believed that grass clippings needed to be picked up I noticed that they would start producing heat very quickly, often while still in the catcher bag on the mower.
Just be careful where you pile up those grass clippings since they can generate enough heat to spontaneously combust, and the gases generated as they are digested will displace the oxygen you need in enclosed places. People have died from asphyxiation where grass clippings have been piled up in enclosed spaces.
bibbus 7b
Original Author
10 years ago
So since I don't have enough browns to compost them, do you have any other ideas on how to use them?
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I would not disagree that spontaneously combustion can happen. I wonder if the air temp was cooler than the pile and it was steaming? The poster is not talking about --Big piles of fresh green wood chips but did mention --A few days ago I piled freshly cut green grass (about 12 inches) and then brown leaves (about 6 inches or less). Then when hrein mentioned -- When I turned it, the inner grass clippings looked singed and ashy. It reminded me of when you pile fresh cut grass and leave for a couple hours, you see that grayish-white ashen looking color inside the grass. I think it is decomposing not a fire burning. Some people are allergic to those spores or whatever they are. Another example here : As soon as the pile starts to cool down or you see some crystallization starting to form (white powder - resembling ash) then you know it is time to turn that pile as the heat has done its thing. hrein, I think you had a hot compost pile. Good Job & Good Luck, Gumby_CT
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Yes, it does sound like you need more browns to reduce the wet-slimy problem. If you don't have access to fallen leaves, you can rip egg cartons ( not styrofoam) into bits and also use newspaper. When you add new materials, put the fresh stuff under the older stuff, or put the browns on top. If the fresh green are covered up, you won't have so many gnats or fruit flies. The compost should be the consistency of a wrung-out sponge. If you have mostly greens, you can try worm-composting. It can be done in a plastic bin. Worms eat most greens, but not citrus. Here is a link that might be useful: Composting video series
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TXEB
10 years ago
Try searching for some free or very cheap browns in your local area. I get free shredded wood mulch from my city. Others have said that tree services frequently have it for the taking. How about shredded paper from an office, or cardboard?
Kimmsr
10 years ago
My grass clippings, when I bagged them, would get hot enough to kill any weed seeds without adding any brown material. If not careful when using grass clippings back then as a mulch I could burn the plants where the grass clippings were used.
Why do you think you need to add some browns to those grass clippings?
sandy1616
10 years ago
Shredded paper, toilet paper rolls, dryer lint, cereal boxes, cardboard egg cartons, dryer lint, sticks. There are a lot of sources for browns if you take a look around. I've used wood pieces in a pinch as well. They won't break down as fast as the grass but you can pull them out and add them to the next batch.
jeanne
10 years ago
Kimmsr, I want to thank you for your advice. I have almost the same situation, 3/4 grass clippings, 1/4 almost finished (still hot) compost with a lot of maple seeds I'd like to recook. Came here to find out if I needed more browns and read your thoughts on the subject, combining them should give me plenty of heat to cook those seeds. I appreciate the time you took to post.
wingspings
10 years ago
I am using the grass clippings this year to recover areas of my property. Putting down a layer of cardboard box and then piling on the clippings. Hoping to be able to plant a 30 x 10 foot section of flower garden next year.

I tried this last year with newspaper and tilled them into the soil and planted grass seed in a area this year and it worked well. The old area was a tree stump that had been rotted.

Too much green and not enough brown

Comments (7)

Kimmsr

bibbus 7b
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Too much green and not enough brown

Comments (7)

Kimmsr

bibbus 7bOriginal Author

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bibbus 7b
Original Author