Using Grass Clippings for Garden Mulch

We first came across the idea of using grass clippings for garden mulch a couple of years ago while visiting a local market garden. The garden looked incredibly healthy. The spinach looked and tasted out of this world. Those leaves were almost as big as my hand, yummy!

Since we have no grass on our urban property, I actually kind of forgot about grass clipping for mulching a garden. However, for many gardeners it really is a worthwhile practice to consider. We share these different methods on the blog to show that there is no one-size-fits-all way of gardening and also help you choose one that works best for your situation.

The benefits of mulch

Mulching a garden has many advantages and some disadvantages. We talked about the disadvantages and a way to do hoeing vs mulch in this blog article. However, if you are in a dry climate and want to mulch your garden, grass clippings can make a great mulch. 

Mulching is a great way to

• Conserve moisture
• Prevent weed growth
• Insulate the soil in cold weather
• Cool the soil in hot weather
• Enrich the soil with organic materials

Grass clippings are free – that is, if you have a pesticide- and herbicide-free lawn and a lawnmower that gathers them for you. Grass clippings decompose very rapidly, adding organic matter to the soil. Grass clippings are also easy to work with. Every time the lawn gets a cut, spread the clippings into the garden, working your way through the rows.

Build soil with grass clippings

The garden we visited first to learn about mulching with grass clippings was rototilled at the end of the season. However, that would probably not be necessary. However, we could testify that the soil using this method was rich.

Grass clipping mulch contains nitrogen and potassium that serve as a supplemental fertilizer. It improves the yields of plants that like high nitrogen; however, it’s not good for plants that don’t. The gardener did not use the grass mulch in her potato plot because of this.

Could grass mulch replace the need for compost?

Composting happens very naturally in nature. Plant material grows, dies, decomposes, and feeds the soil to grow more plants. The cycle never stops, unless someone interrupts it. Grazing animals do not interrupt the natural cycle; they add to it. While grazing, they trample old material down and fertilize the surface with nitrogen and manure.
In a garden situation, things are different. We usually harvest plants and take them out of the garden completely. The cleaner and tilled we like the garden to be, the more depleted the soil becomes over time. 

Mulching with organic matter like grass clippings, straw, hay, or mushroom compost helps some, but it might not be enough to add all the nutrients a soil needs. In our experience, maintaining productive soil requires adding high-quality compost every five to ten years.

We would love to hear about your experiences. If you use grass clippings for mulching, do you also apply compost occasionally? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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