Every mulch has its pluses and minuses. I like to use different mulches on different crops. It also matters what type of garden.

As far as things that can sprout, that too depends on a few factors.

As an example... I like to use thick mulches on many crops - especially solanaceae like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Because they grow a thick foliage, and I want the lower leaves protected from splashes of water from the soil, I use no less than 6" of hay. That hay though, could include some grass clippings sporadically incorporated. I wouldn't use compost because I don't get that splash protection, and compost can be hydrophobic until it's well moistened. I want water to softly drip through the hay.

Sprouting seeds are not at all a problem in thick mulch.

However, on beans, I do like to use compost. Soil splashing is not as big an issue, and compost is easier to work with and doesn't breakdown as quickly in my climate.

Sorry. I meant should i use the grass clippings as much or compost them in a bin. I would mulch poppers and tomatoes

Yes... you should use them as mulch in the garden, in the compost, or mulched back into the yard.

Lol... not very helpful right? I guess my point is that they are useful in many ways. use them any particular time where they will do the most good. Most often, for most people, that means mulched back into the lawn.

Lol i know i could do multiple things...im trying to see if it's a good idea to introduce all those seeds (the brown stuff) under my peppers and tomatoes

Many people are disinclined to use grass clippings directly as a mulch as they tend to mat down with watering or rainfall and become anaerobic and slimy. There is far less of concern with this if you allow the clippings to dry out for a few days........but that usually requires being able to spread them out somewhere :-)

They also make a perfectly fine addition to the compost pile, providing you have sufficient 'brown' material to offset. The tree debris - looks to be just dry leaves - will make no difference in either case.

Any of these are fine. But perhaps the best is to leave the grass clippings on the lawn and let them decompose there. You'll need to fertilize your lawn less, too.

You could do either. While the best place for grass clippings is right back where they came from, the lawn, because they can provide up to 1/2 the annual needs of the lawn they can also be used as a mulch or they could be composted. Many people get concerned about "weeds" which will grow anyway. Many people want to eliminate weeding which they are not going to do. If you garden, if you grow anything you will have those unwanted plants called "weeds".

Those seeds from that tree are loaded with nutrients that cold help feed other plants.

you don't want to use fresh grass clippings as mulch. As stated above they tend to mat together and prevent water from getting through, and get pretty rank. Additionally any weed seeds that are in the grass clippings or riding along on the bottom of your gardener's mower are now in your beds. Not awesome.

Your best bet is to compost them, but I'd hesitate if you use any persistent herbicides or insecticides. Only you know that.

The only sprays we use in our garden are some pesticides and herbicides that I lightly spray on affected plants.

Ive used grass clippings other years. I only put enough to prevent back splash from the soil. I didn't have any problems with smell or water not going through. Its probably not even an inch thick of grass that I put underneat the plants,

Alot of the brown stuff are maple seeds. http://images.natureworldnews.com/data/images/full/8519/maple-seed.jpg

Those do NOT look like maple samaras to me and it's too early in the season for a maple to be dropping them anyway. To confirm that the tree debris is not of concern, can you post a close up of whatever has fallen and been collected with the grass clippings? And the tree they came from?

My impression was of Linden bracts.

I have used fresh grass clippings, often with the seeds from various trees, Maple, Hackberry, Catalpa, for mulch and have seen very few of them germinate and grow new little trees and of those that did they were easily pulled out of the garden. I would not get too concerned about them.

You're right most of that is dried leaves. I didn't take a close look because it was about to rain and I quickly took the pics and ran back in. I put them lightly under my peppers plants. There were a few maple seeds, but not enough to worry me :)

Thanks

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.

I wish I had that option of using hay. Grass is my cheapest option and I really use it to prevent splash back from the soil. It does help slow down some weeds.

I chip the branches from our yard and pull the weeds from the garden as a compost crop to make green layers for my compost pile. Its a good system timing wise. About the time a layer of wood chips is done, the weeds have grown into a crop big enough to easily pull. Plus side is that due to my compost needs I am excited about pulling weeds and have quit worrying about knocking them down when they are small.