I would not dump grass clippings directly on the bed.
You can mix grass clipings and oak leaves in a compost pile and use it in the spring. Oak, maple leaves can be tilled into beds in fall. If you have earth worm, they will convert leaves into casting .I have done that many times. But Grass clippings will just cake up.

JMO.

I have found that dry grass clippings do just fine not caking, and slightly mixed into top soil deliver that bacterial prevalence that annual veggie beds like. Have been using mulch of weeds and grass clippings all summer, the main problem for me to find "clean" grass clippings to use...
Yeah, compost piles are separate issues but I need to make sure my beds do not stay "naked" over winter

I planted winter rye as a cover one year and fought grass growing in the garden the entire next summer. I do clean it out and till compost in. What's wrong with leaving it naked over the winter?
John A

Leaving beds "naked" over winter can lead to weed issues. And winter rains and melting snowfall can result in erosion and the leaching of nutrients. Personally, I'd go with some sort of cover crop but at the very least, you should mulch thickly with whatever to protect the soil surface over winter.

The trick with cover crops is to till them in before they flower or set seed. That means some research as to type of cover crop and appropriate planting time so they are ready to be tilled at the proper time in early spring.

When I was growing many hundreds of tomato plants in a field my farmer friend would turn over the soil in the Fall, then plant winter Rye which came up in the Spring and then he'd till that again before preparing my fieled for me for planting.

I would never use a mulch where tomatoes have grown since I wanted the gound to freeze as deeply as it could during the winter which helped kill unwanted I'll say pests..

Perennials? Yes, the less hardy ones I would mulch, but a deep snow cover accomplishes the same thing.

Carolyn

It is highly advised to rotate tomatoes and other Solanaceous crops on at least a three year cycle to avoid infection from various pathogens. In which case, it doesn't really matter if the soil freezes solid or not - freezing does not eliminate the problems.

Regardless, I would not be inclined to leave the soil bare.

I put my beds to bed at the end of season :-)
I cover them with a blanket of plastic and let them stay dry during the 5 fall/winter months.
Since we never get a deep frost, covering or NOT covering makes no difference to kill the pests. During those 5 months we get about 30 inches of rain fall, soaking the beds and washing down the nutrients.

So I guess you do what you think is right in your area and your garden: IT IS YOUR GARDEN.

I mix in fresh grass clippings, shredded leaves, and half finished compost into my beds in fall then top with a mulch of shredded leaves. Come spring I rake off the mulch to allow the beds to dry out/warm up some and plant. I don't dig/till my beds in spring.

Rodney

As each garden section is done for the season, we till and then plant winter rye. It sprouts pretty quickly. HereâÂÂs what the former corn section looks like today after being seeded a few days ago.

Susan

this is only avail for free watching till 10/10

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil

John A, I am thinking in such way... where you do see "naked" soil in nature... right... in the desert... where do you see best growth- in grasslands and forests...
mother nature must know something I can follow
Carolyn, it is interesting thought about soil being frozen to kill pathogens... but OTOH, the ever nasty C diff lives in the gut peacefully until opportunity arises...
so if there is some small nasties that do overwinter in the soil but good guys prevail I will still come ahead?

I must admit that I do blow leaves onto the garden after I clean it out. With that leaf covering it still breezes pretty deep.\
John A

Carolyn, it is interesting thought about soil being frozen to kill pathogens... but OTOH, the ever nasty C diff lives in the gut peacefully until opportunity arises...
so if there is some small nasties that do overwinter in the soil but good guys prevail I will still come ahead?

&&&&&&

Being a retired infectious disease/immune response person, I don't think I'd go as far as saying that Clostridium difficile lives peacefully in the gut since not everyone has that bacterium as local flora. But as you know, certain antibiotics can cause it to multiply if it is there, and that's not a good situation.See the link at the bottom.

What I'm thinking of as to critters and letting the soil freeze deeply are cutworms, which mainly pupate in the soil, and any imported Fusarium, etc.diseases that are killed where the soil freezes deeply.

Has Fusarium and other fungal systemic diseases appeared here in my zone 5 area? Yes, but mainly from plants bought in southern areas. But once here, also are the moths that lay the eggs.

Yes, you'll come out ahead if you know which critters are in your soil that are potential problems and know which ones are killed by freezing and which are not. ( smile)

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: C.diff