oh yaaay! I'm so glad you posted this - I saw it today too!

bsmith - having looked at some more literature, I've softened my stance on both triclopyr and fluroxypyr a good bit. I think it would be fine to use your grass clippings with a few caveats - these are my views on how to manage the risk to an extremely low and what I would consider acceptable level: 1. I wouldn't collect any grass clippings until after 4 mowing of treated grass. 2. The composting should go through a good thermophilic phase reaching at least 135 ðF for 5 days. 3. The compost needs to be fully cured and mature before applying it to soil. With those steps I would have no reservation about compost made with those clippings, provided that the herbicides were used as directed on the labels (i.e., no excesses, etc.).

Throwing away grass clippings and then buying peat moss is something I see people do all the time because they have been taught, wrongly, that the grass clippings are a waste product rather than a valuable resource. Grass clippings should be recycled from where they came. mulch mowed back into the lawn where they can provide up to 1/2 the annual Nitrogen needs of the lawn, used as a mulch around plantings to help conserve soil moisture, suppress unwanted plant growth, etc., or composted. Grass clippings should never be thrown away. Even if the grass has grown quite tall proper mowing techniques can be used to mulch mow that grass. If when mowing the cut grass clumps then the mower is moving too fast, or possibly the grass is too wet to mow. The forward speed of the mower needs to be matched to the mowers capability to process the cut grass.

This is actually the only time of year I ever even consider putting grass clippings around plants. Usually, they are just left on the lawn, which is an excellent use for them. The leaves are beginning to fall, though, so it's almost time to put the bagger on the tractor. It's real use is to pick up the leaves, but the grass goes along for the ride.