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Gardening

Grass cuttings-where do we put them now?

(26 Posts)
HettyMaud Tue 07-Apr-20 10:01:50

Our local council has ceased green bin collection for the foreseeable future. If I cut the lawn I envisage bags full of grass piling up and getting smelly. I'm thinking of perhaps letting the grass grow long though it will spoil the look of the garden. What is anyone else doing?

justanovice Tue 07-Apr-20 10:03:09

Composting it like I always do.

travelsafar Tue 07-Apr-20 10:04:08

Make a compost heap. Even if you dont have a bin you can put the cuttings in an empty shop bought compost bag or any large container.

MawB Tue 07-Apr-20 10:06:10

I don’t have a compost bin or heap ever since we spotted a rat in the compost heap we inherited with this house 25 years ago so I am planning to cut it more often and leave the clippings on the grass the way municipal grass cutting is done.
Of course if we have another drought, the question becomes academic.

gillybob Tue 07-Apr-20 10:06:20

We’re in the same boat here HettyMaud green bin collections have been suspended and our little beehive composter is full to the brim . I’ve managed to smash the contents of the green bin down with a hoe and squash more in but I think it might burst if I tried to cram any more in . Not sure what to do . We only have a small garden so no room for a compost heap .

gillybob Tue 07-Apr-20 10:07:03

Oh good idea MawB . Cutting little and often . smile

Calendargirl Tue 07-Apr-20 10:07:10

But if you have a large quantity of grass cuttings, I find they don’t compost down very well, too wet and slimy. Or perhaps that’s just us?

Charleygirl5 Tue 07-Apr-20 10:09:32

It is only my long front garden and side bits which need cutting and I have started a compost heap at the side. I can always add it to the grass in a few months time- I have nowhere else to put it because my back garden is block caved and has tubs etc.

Alexa Tue 07-Apr-20 10:10:27

I cannot persuade my son who cuts my grass, to leave it lying where it falls as he believes tidiness matters most which I don't. He put it in a heap under a tree at least it makes good compost.

M0nica Tue 07-Apr-20 10:11:51

I put them on my vegetable patch as green mulch. When they are full, they go on the flower beds, or to be more accurate around the shrubs.

We have a big garden and lots of lawn so each veg bed gets about two loads of grass a summer. It does no harm, and probably some good because it enables water retention when the weather is hot and dry.

BlueBelle Tue 07-Apr-20 10:16:21

Compost along with your pealing and weeds I have a big green garden bag which I m using to compost it down it can stand in the corner under my caster oil plant and hardly be visible
I don’t have a big garden but normally manage to fill a green bin a week but totally understand why it’s been stopped and it makes perfect sense to compost it
We should be doing that anyway and it’s made me stop and think and put it into action

JessK Tue 07-Apr-20 10:17:31

We've been told by our Council to bag garden waste and put it with the general rubbish

Marmight Tue 07-Apr-20 10:23:15

Luckily our bins are still being emptied, so far ... There’s only so much you can put in the composter. I may have to resort to chucking it over the wall into the field behind my house......the sheep nibble all the plants which grow by the wall anyway so I don’t suppose a few fresh chemical free grass clippings would hurt? They'd probably turn up their noses at it anyway.

farview Wed 08-Apr-20 17:38:05

I threw our grass cuttings into the field and then had a very cross farmer shout me..he said it can kill sheep because the grass starts to ferment immediately and they get awful tummies and die in pain..I felt absolutely awful..lesson learned..

bikergran Wed 08-Apr-20 17:55:31

I am buying dd a box of wild flowers seeds, her little front patch is past its sell by date,she going to sprinkel the wild flowers seeds on the lawn and just leave it.

Tangerine Wed 08-Apr-20 18:08:02

I have also been told by the dustmen that it is all right to put it in with ordinary waste as long as it's in a black bag.

What I am choosing to do is leave the clippings on the grass. I don't let it grow too long so there aren't really that many clippings.

MissAdventure Wed 08-Apr-20 18:24:07

youtu.be/p-kcnRrKrGI

How about this kind of thing?

MissAdventure Wed 08-Apr-20 18:29:37

Or this. This is the one I meant to post.

youtu.be/AWlxpvnYl-M

merlotgran Wed 08-Apr-20 18:43:09

I echo farview's post. Never, ever give a grazing animal freshly cut grass.

vegansrock Wed 08-Apr-20 18:50:45

Did anyone see Monty Don saying he only mows the lawn in one of his gardens (!) twice a year, the rest of the time he sows wildflower seeds and lets it become a meadow. Much better for bees and butterflies., might give that a go.

MissAdventure Wed 08-Apr-20 19:05:07

Oh, I'd love it if you did, if you could let us know how it goes.

quizqueen Wed 08-Apr-20 19:13:20

I compost grass and suitable food waste at home and I've been doing lots of weeding and that goes in the normal black bin bags with the rest of my waste. I pay enough council tax as it is and certainly am not paying extra to have garden waste collected. I make several trips to the tip as well to take branches etc. to put in their garden waste recycling skips.

farview Wed 08-Apr-20 20:25:04

...our tips are shut now due to coronavirus situation...but luckily already done tree/shrub pruning...grass cuttings...green bin which at the moment is still being collected...

SpringyChicken Wed 08-Apr-20 21:42:50

We're putting ours in with the non-recyclable waste. When the garden waste collection is suspended during winter months, that's where our council allow us to place it.

annsixty Thu 09-Apr-20 10:14:51

A short term solution I know but under a lot of pressure our council has agreed a one off green bin collection starting on the last Monday in April on the day your bins are normally emptied.
At least the larger garden waste can be collected on that day.