Grass Clippings for Vegetable Garden?

[GardenFresh]

Can I use my grass clippings as a weed barrier, fertilizer, etc for my vegetable garden?

Thanks....

[rainbowgardener]

Grass clippings make good mulch for veggie gardens, as long as the grass wasn't treated with anything nasty. Only drawback is that grass can kind of mat down, which cuts down on air and water circulation and makes the mat kind of indestructible. It helps to use it in a mixture with fall leaves, straw, bark mulch, etc. Just as for your compost pile, for veggie garden mulch the combination of greens and browns works well. As it breaks down, it feeds your soil with everything the soil needs. In the meantime it keeps the grass from matting.

[toxcrusadr]

"Nasty" meaning, particularly, weed killers that could damage your garden plants. Most of them will degrade in the compost bin, but fresh clippings have not had a chance to do that.

[Lindsaylew82]

I'm a sheet composter. I have raised rows and alternate grass cuttings with chopped leaves during the growing season. I put it on thick in spots that I get dandelions. I start each growing season off with brown packaging paper topped with wheat straw. I also had to use pine straw this year instead of wheat straw...(thanks to the 2013 southeast spring/summer long, non-stop, torrential "sprinklings".) It was quite pretty!!! Until I add my grass and leaves. I also use thick brown paper under it all, and I haven't tilled, turned, or aerated in 4 years! I don't have problems with hot spots in my garden or burned plants. I don't have issues with watering either. One down side that I've noticed is that IT STINKS! I mean bad, for the first day or so after cuttings are applied. It can also get a little slippery if I leave my cuttings piled between my rows for more than a day.

I love using grass cuttings in my garden! It makes for close to a weed free garden! I'm also a huge fan of sheet composting! It's made a huge difference in workload for me!

[ElizabethB]

G uses "weed and feed" on the front lawn. won't allow him to use it in the back. I have 2 4'x4'x4' compost bins adjacent to each other. The live oak sheds in March and the leaves are mulched and bagged for year round use. I alternate layers of leaves, grass clippings (from the back yard only), kitchen scraps and manure - both fresh rabbit manure and composted horse manure from my sister's horse farm.

My bins were neglected since fall so I have no cooked compost.

Working on it.