In spring and early summer, when rain falls regularly, I can harvest clippings from each plot every 7 to 10 days. I keep my mower blade set high, at 4 inches (10 cm), to keep from damaging the plants' crowns and to help the turf serve as habitat for ground-dwelling spiders, beetles, and other creatures. The grass must be dry, and the mowing should remove about one-third of the length of the grass. Like any other crop, grass clippings must be harvested when they are ready, and in the right kind of weather. At least once a month, I treat my cultivated grass mulch areas to a self-mulching treatment, which fertilizes the grass and helps with weed prevention. It has a bagger just the right size for me to lift off and dump, and I can switch from the bagger to a mulching attachment, which throws the cut clippings back down to the ground, in about five minutes. I also invested in a walk-behind mower with grass clipping management in mind. In terms of maintenance, I repair damaged places with plugs of sod or clover, and broadcast a balanced organic fertilizer over the turf in spring, just before a soaking rain. The clover helps provide soil-borne nitrogen for itself and its neighbors, and changes the texture of the clippings so they are less likely to compact. Rather than have them in solid turfgrass, I am growing a mixture of vigorous grasses and perennial clovers, especially Dutch white clover. The most fundamental step I have taken is to actively cultivate three areas of my landscape for the specific purpose of gathering mulch. Grass clippings become a much too valuable a resource to waste. But if you are managing certain turf areas for mulch production, you are unlikely to commit these errors. Grass clipping mulch requires special handling, because it tends to form slimy mats when applied too thickly or left in wet piles. In a 3-year Swedish study, grass clipping mulch improved yields of cauliflower while reducing damage cause by root maggots. In addition to doing all the things other biodegradable mulches do (retain soil moisture, block light to weeds, improve soil), grass clipping mulch contains so much nitrogen and potassium that it serves as a supplemental fertilizer.
The only answer was to do a better job producing and harvesting my own mulch materials, especially grass clippings. Hay was no longer a safe choice due to risk of herbicide contamination, ditto for manure.
I have used grass clippings as a vegetable garden mulch for as long as I can remember, but four years ago I changed from a casual grass clipping mulcher into a clipping devotee.
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