too much grass cuttings

Dec the trucker

hey there folks. iv got a little over an acre of a lawn which im cutting with a 42 inch craftsman. lovely cut and pattern on the lawn but ive got a massive heap of cuttings every week.easily a 8*4 trailer with mesh sides which is turning into pure slop in my field. love to get a zero turn and mulch the lawn but would i loose the pattern effect after the cut and would it lead to moss in a few years? any ideas from ye on uses for clippings or zero turn mowers. thanks folks.

redser7

If you spread it thinly instead of in piles it won't get sloppy like that but will rot down more gradually to a compost. Are there any farmers around who would take it for feed? It makes a great mulch, but you probably don't have enough bare soil areas to use it on?? You could always advertise it, many amateur growers would like it for mulch or for adding to compost heaps.

Dec the trucker

Thanks ymurtagh. That looks good. Any problem mulching grass that's maybe 3-4 inches high?

ymurtagh

No, problem, odd time it may take a second pass, but that's all, the grass in picture had not be cut in 2 weeks, if you stuck you can just do it as side discharge also

Dec the trucker

Il would suit me a treat that would. Might look into one. Cheers lad.

Eph1958

The cows in the next field where I am are very partial to the grass cutting and make short work of them. They come running immediately mower is powered up. Of course I asked owners permission first.

ymurtagh

A small bit of fresh cut grass won't do to much harm, but feeding a trailer load of fresh grass regular can give animals collic

My Potatoes

Dec the trucker wrote: »

hey there folks. iv got a little over an acre of a lawn which im cutting with a 42 inch craftsman. lovely cut and pattern on the lawn but ive got a massive heap of cuttings every week.easily a 8*4 trailer with mesh sides which is turning into pure slop in my field. love to get a zero turn and mulch the lawn but would i loose the pattern effect after the cut and would it lead to moss in a few years? any ideas from ye on uses for clippings or zero turn mowers. thanks folks.

Take it to a recycling centre. Cost you about €10.

My Potatoes

redser7 wrote: »

Are there any farmers around who would take it for feed?

Domestic lawns have a high potential of contamination from dangerous bacteria and pathogens, due to dog faeces. Nobody in the care of animals would use it for feed.

redser7 wrote: »

It makes a great mulch, but you probably don't have enough bare soil areas to use it on??

It does make a great mulch, but it looks horrific when used for this purpose.

redser7 wrote: »

You could always advertise it, many amateur growers would like it for mulch or for adding to compost heaps.

Most compost bins I've encountered (personally, professionally and anecdotally) suffer from excess "greens", so I doubt anybody would want more.
Fresh lawn cuttings can act as a great compost heap activator, but a layer of 5cm is more than enough for this purpose.

Poulgorm

I have a large garden too and disposal of grass cuttings was nuisance. I have evolved a system: I used one patch of ground at the bottom of the rear lawn for all grass cut in 2012. The grass cuttings for all of this year (2013) are in a spot nearby - I will keep the two piles separate. Come January 2014, all the 2012 grass mound (by then, well rotted) will be spread around shrubs, under hedges and around roses. That patch of ground will then become where I will deposit all the 2014 grass cuttings. And, so, the cycle continues.

I also throw all weeds that I pull that year in with the same grass cuttings mound.

Plant a few evergreen shrubs near the grass cutting mounds and you will not even notice them.

When the mound is "resting" for a year, weeds grow on it: I cut them back with a hedge clippers. When I went to dispose of the 2011 mound (in January 2013), I used a steel rake to pull the weeds and sods away and threw them on the 2012 mound.

Sounds a bit complicated the way I have described it, but it works for me.

NIMAN

I use a mulching plug on my Husq ride-on. Couldn't live without it to be honest as I did collect the cuttings once last year and the pile was huge (and thats only a half acre site).

shawnee

If you know of any farmer with a few cattle nearby , they would be glad of the grass cuttings at the moment . No weedkiller on it I hope.:P

My Potatoes

shawnee wrote: »

If you know of any farmer with a few cattle nearby , they would be glad of the grass cuttings at the moment . No weedkiller on it I hope.:P

Bullsh1t (npi). See #10

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84585983&postcount=10