Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

David C

"David C" wrote in message
...
Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

David C

I wish I lived nearer. I use our grass cuttings to 'earth-up' the no-dig
potatoes and I just wish that our grass would grow faster so that I can have
some more for the next batch of tatties. In previous years we have had
wonderful crops using this method (though smallish tubers last year due to
the blight attck and having to chop off the haulms early)

Sorry not much help on the disposal options you were looking for

--A

The message
from David C contains these words:

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

Some modern mowers blow the cuttings back into the 'pile'.

--
Tony
Replace solidi with dots to reply: tony/anson snailything zetnet/co/uk

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi

If you can cut every few days in the growing season then leaving the small
clipping in the lawn is a solution.
I would treat the moss as a seperate problem - but then spiking and dressing
half an acre of lawn is as daunting as cutting it every few days.
I think you can hire motorised mechanical thingies which will ventilate your
lawn by lifting out small cores of soil, and this may be a realistic option
for a large lawn.
It could be that one push to improve your lawn by removing the conditions
which encourage moss would then enable you to mulch the clippings back in
for the rest of the year without problems.
HTH
Dave R

"David C" wrote in message
...
Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

David C

"David C" wrote in message
...
Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

That's an awful lot of lawn... Could you cope with slightly less lawn and
slightly more composting space?

Yeah .....i cant see why with a grass area that size you cant find space for
another compost bin
I mean I only have 1/4 acre plot but I have 7 compost bins all 1 metre
square and high and i need every last ounce of it for my flower and shrub
beds and fruit trees
I suspect you need a more balanced garden

"Colin Davidson" wrote in message
...

"David C" wrote in message
...
Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

That's an awful lot of lawn... Could you cope with slightly less lawn and
slightly more composting space?

David C wrote in
:

Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

Could you find a keen composting gardener nearby and arrange some sort of
exchange? I would happily take some off you for my heaps, and for that
matter as mulch, too. (I am in SE Cornwall, but I bet you aren't!)

Otherwise, might be worth a call to your local council to see if there is a
'compost tip' you could use instead. Some places even have neighbourhood
composters, in the same way as bottle banks.

Also, how long do your heaps take to go over? Maybe if you added some
manure from time to time you could boost the composting rate, if they are
otherwise mostly grass?

Victoria

On Wed, 07 May 2003 10:56:30 +0100, David C wrote:

Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

1) Use them as a mulch - about 2" thick. I progressivly mulch my flower
beds with my grass cuttings every year. It takes me the mowing season to
mulch all my flower beds at least once to a reasonable thickness. It is
worked into the soil by the worms / composts etc. as you go, and come
mowing time in the spring, you need to start again!

2) The green waste contianer at the local tip. All councils should now be
collecting organic waste seperatly.

Sarah

Yeah .....i cant see why with a grass area that size you cant find space for
another compost bin
I mean I only have 1/4 acre plot but I have 7 compost bins all 1 metre
square and high and i need every last ounce of it for my flower and shrub
beds and fruit trees
I suspect you need a more balanced garden


I have 3 approx metre square compost bins and that produces plenty,
it's a 30 year old garden and the beds and veg patch are built up and
anything we put in grows really well. Really don't need any more
compost - already we give away all we can to family and friends.

The moss in the grass is because there are lots of trees and therefore
shade, also high water table and damp ground (near the River Severn in
Worcs) so no need to mulch much.

The lawn is big but that's the way the family like it so no real scope
to introduce more beds - previous owners employed a gardener who took
away the cuttings - they left his phone number - beginning to think it
might be the best solution !

David C

Additionally, grass cuttings help prevent scab on potatoes.
David

"Alison" o.uk wrote in
message ...

"David C" wrote in message
...
Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

The lawn is prone to moss so I know I should pick up the cuttings
instead of mulching back in, (I use a cylinder mower) at the moment I
take them to the tip but there must be a better solution !

David C

I wish I lived nearer. I use our grass cuttings to 'earth-up' the no-dig
potatoes and I just wish that our grass would grow faster so that I can
have
some more for the next batch of tatties. In previous years we have had
wonderful crops using this method (though smallish tubers last year due to
the blight attck and having to chop off the haulms early)

Sorry not much help on the disposal options you were looking for

--A

The message
from David C contains these words:

Yes I know I can compost them, and I do to some extent, but I have
almost half an acre of formal lawn and only have a few places I can
use the compost, I give much of it away but even so there is just too
much volume of cuttings and the compost bins are full.

I'm currently the happy recipient of the cuttings collected locally by
two mowing contractors; it suits them to have somewhere convenient to
dump it, and I can never have too much for composting and mulching.

You could put a sign by your gate, or in the local paper shop, asking
if any avid composter/mulcher wants to come and collect yours.

Just this weekend we saw another solution in Lochranza, Arran. Someone
was emptying fresh grass cuttings at the roadside just outside his
garden, where they were being snaffled up by a very large, antlered red
deer stag taller than myself. He (the stag) paused briefly as we and our
dog walked past within 3 metres of him, then continued eating. The
surrounding deerforest hills are full of fresh grazing atm so clearly he
just prefers it ready chopped. (The red deer are so many and so bold
there, most Lochranza gardens are surrounded by deer fence..looks like
Alcatraz).

Janet. (Isle of Arran).