Should I Put Grass Clippings in my Compost?

 The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the grass is growing. About once a week, so long as it isn’t too rainy and wet outside, I’m going out with the mower, getting sweaty, and mowing the lawn. While I’m mowing, I can see my compost bin sitting in my yard- should I be feeding my grass clippings to my compost bin?

Grass clippings are an interesting additive for a compost bin, because they can be considered EITHER “greens” (nitrogen heavy) OR “browns” (carbon heavy) depending on how fresh they are. A compost bin should typically have one part “greens” to about 3 parts “browns” or, at minimum, “browns” should always cover all the “greens” in your compost. When grass is freshly cut, and literally green,- you guessed it, it’s considered a “green.” Dried out, brown grass clippings are considered “browns”. That’s not too hard to remember!

If you are collecting kitchen scraps in your home, you likely have enough “greens”, but when the leaves aren’t falling, “browns” can be a little harder to come by. So how would you dry out your grass clippings? The best process is to cook them. You shouldn’t literally cook them, but lay them out on a driveway or a tarp on a sunny day. This will dehydrate the clippings quickly, so you can collect them for your compost bin. When mowing the grass often, you’ll have a healthy collection of “browns” in no time.

Now, there is a much easier option. Skip the bags, and just mow it in. Leaving grass clippings on your lawn is one of the best things that you can do for your lawn. It creates biomass, and keeps nutrients in your soil. It also encourages biodiversity and will break down all on its own, no compost bin required.

What do you do with your grass clippings? 

Compost Blogger: Sam Plante