Thursday, July 23, 2015

Uses For Grass Clippings In The Garden And Chicken Coop

If you have a lawn and it gets mowed than you have grass clippings. These clippings are a valuable garden resource and should be kept to use in your garden and not sent to the local landfill. If you use lots of weed killer on your lawn you may want to wait a couple of months to use them. Here are some ways we use grass clippings around the garden.



1. Spread the clipping around your garden beds as mulch. Make sure to spread fresh clippings thinly so they dry out properly. Grass that is wet and decaying will give off ammonia and you don't want that. Mulching with glass clippings adds needed nitrogen to soil, helps add a layer of mulch that retains moisture in the soil and also is good for the microbes and worms who feed off of the clippings as they break down.

2. Compost them. If you keep a compost pile than grass clippings can be tossed in to break down and composted. If your pile is not cooking well, the hot nitrogen can kick it up a notch. Just be careful not to dump in loads of wet grass as it can get slimy in there so if you have lots of wet grass try letting it dry out a bit before adding it to the compost pile.

If you do not have a compost bin you can find my easy diy compost holder instructions.




3. Add to the chicken coop run. First, the chickens will love you. Grass is an important feed crop for your chickens and provide nutrients that are good for them and make eggs more nutritious and yolks richer in color. By mowing often, the clippings stay nice and short. Long grass could lead to crop impaction. I have never had a problem with this but we mow weekly.

 Also, once they spread the grass clippings they make a great mulch layer that improves the chicken runs soil quality and helps keep dust down in dry months. Keep that grass pesticide free if giving it to your chickens.


backyard chickens


I have met some that have taken the time to use grass clippings in the actual hen house and in the nesting box. You would have to treat it like hay or straw and make sure it is really dried out well. If you are worried about crawling pests sprinkle some DE in there with it.

4. Leave the clippings right on the lawn as you mow. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for green lawn and as the clippings break down and release the nitrogen, it will help feed the lawn. This is a great tip in fall and spring to organically feed your lawn.

So use those grass clippings for good and keep them out of the landfill.

4 comments:

  1. We put our clippings in our neighbor's compost pile because they asked. I think they use it for their tomatoes.

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  2. We bag our clippings and you are right it works great between the rows in the vegetable garden and berry patches etc.

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  3. Great ideas! I don't know why anyone would bag them for trash. My husband likes to either put clippings in with the chickens or on the compost pile. We don't spray, so there's no worries.

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  4. . Hi Elaine....
    I have read your last few posts and you have some great information in them...

    I love the cupcake liver to keep the bugs out...

    In Summer we use out outside barbeque a lot .. hubby cooks vegies on it as well as roasting... we do eat a lot of salad...
    Hubby won't get rid of the fridges and freezer he has outside in the fernery.... at least the fernery is open and ventilated ..
    I use the slow cooker and the microwave as much as possible for cooking in summer..

    I love your Cosy Corner.. nice decorating Mr. Sunny Simple Life
    Have a great day.. Hugs... Barb xxx

    ReplyDelete