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Lots of homeowners are being forced to do what canny gardeners have been doing for years: finding ways to use grass clippings as a resource in the landscape.

Bans on landfilling landscape waste mean that homeowners have to find other ways to dispose of them But many gardeners have recognized the benefits of recycling grass clippings in their yards and gardens for a long time and wouldn't think of bagging them for trash pickup even when they could.

The simplest approach to grass clippings is simply to return them to the lawn. It saves time and effort - no raking, no bagging, no hauling hither and yon around the landscape - and it saves fertilizer. Returning clippings to the lawn can reduce fertilizer needs by about 30 percent. And it improves the soil by adding organic matter.

Sometimes, especially in spring and early summer, the grass growth gets ahead of the mowing, because of weather and other demands on the mower's time. When the lawn does get cut, it looks like a hay field waiting to be raked and baled.

If you're lucky enough to get a couple of days of dry weather after you mow, you can leave the cut grass on the lawn to dry a bit, then run over the windrows with your mower. This will chop up the clumps and spread them around so you can leave the clippings on the lawn. You can also rake them up and mix them with other dried organic wastes to start a compost pile or use them as a mulch.

It's a good idea to let the clippings dry a few days before you apply them to the vegetable or flower garden - thick layers may get smelly as they decompose. If you use thin layers, you can add more as clippings bread down. You can also mix the clippings with straw, chopped leaves or other organic mulching materials for a longer lasting, more effective ground cover.

Avoid mulching with grass clippings that have recently been treated with herbicides. Residues could harm the flowers, vegetables or landscape plants being mulched.

Each spring as we clean up our yards and gardens there is always a large pile of leaves, grass and other duff material that needs to be removed. Instead of throwing it away, recycle it. One of the key components of good composting is brown or dried organic matter as well as green grass clippings. So, now is the time to utilize these materials in a compost pile or to find a place to store it and save it for later this spring when you have green or fresh organic matter to mix with it.

(This resource was added August 2002 and appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star Newspaper Sunday edition. For information on reproducing this article or using any photographs or graphics, read the Terms of Use statement)

Return for more resources - http://lancaster.unl.edu

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County is your on-line yard and garden educational resource. The information on this Web site is valid for residents of southeastern Nebraska. It may or may not apply in your area. If you live outside southeastern Nebraska, visit your local Extension office