Is turning grass clippings into liquid feed worth it?

bobbyss

Amateur here.
I two thirds fill bucket with grass clippings. Fill with water. Leave for few days. Stir everyday. Drain and filter water from bucket. ( Smells like sewerage by the way. ) Pour around trees and shrubs.

I believe it's full of nitrogen. But is the whole thing worth it? Will it make a difference? Or am I wasting my time? Does anyone else do this?

Zzippy

bobbyss wrote: »

Amateur here.
I two thirds fill bucket with grass clippings. Fill with water. Leave for few days. Stir everyday. Drain and filter water from bucket. ( Smells like sewerage by the way. ) Pour around trees and shrubs.

I believe it's full of nitrogen. But is the whole thing worth it? Will it make a difference? Or am I wasting my time? Does anyone else do this?

It's more common with plants like nettles and comfrey, which are very high in nitrogen. Never heard of doing it with grass clippings. I believe the resulting "tea" should be well diluted before using on other plants.

magicbastarder

i've been known to do it with weeds, on the understanding it kills the seeds.
as mentioned, it stinks to high heaven.

bobbyss

Zzippy wrote:

It's more common with plants like nettles and comfrey, which are very high in nitrogen. Never heard of doing it with grass clippings. I believe the resulting "tea" should be well diluted before using on other plants.

But aren't grass clippings full of nitrogen also? Should I dilute the end product? I thought pouring it directly onto soil would be very good. Very strong.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bobbyss wrote: »

But aren't grass clippings full of nitrogen also? Should I dilute the end product? I thought pouring it directly onto soil would be very good. Very strong.

Nettles are the traditional plant to use and are much higher in Nitrogen. The resultant tea should be diluted 10:1

magicbastarder

nettles in kettles. speeds up the process.

Roen

Did it with borage last year. Holy cow the smell.

RebelButtMunch

bobbyss wrote: »

Amateur here.
I two thirds fill bucket with grass clippings. Fill with water. Leave for few days. Stir everyday. Drain and filter water from bucket. ( Smells like sewerage by the way. ) Pour around trees and shrubs.

I believe it's full of nitrogen. But is the whole thing worth it? Will it make a difference? Or am I wasting my time? Does anyone else do this?

Do a bit of research. For instance giving lilac nitrogen will get it lovely and leafy... feck all flowers.

macraignil

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Do a bit of research. For instance giving lilac nitrogen will get it lovely and leafy... feck all flowers.

That makes sense from what I have read as well. Nitrogen is more associated with promoting leaf growth. I don't understand the benefit of making a liquid nitrogen rich feed for trees and shrubs. I just have a number of small compost heaps out of sight in the general area of some of the trees and shrubs in my own garden. The earth worms and rain bring all of the nutrient from the grass clippings into the soil and improve the soil structure while they do this so I would think this is a better method to get something back from the clippings.

New Home

Nyla Thundering Oarsman wrote: »

Nettles are the traditional plant to use and are much higher in Nitrogen. The resultant tea should be diluted 10:1

Horsetail is great for that, too. Same dilution.

macraignil wrote: »

That makes sense from what I have read as well. Nitrogen is more associated with promoting leaf growth. I don't understand the benefit of making a liquid nitrogen rich feed for trees and shrubs. I just have a number of small compost heaps out of sight in the general area of some of the trees and shrubs in my own garden. The earth worms and rain bring all of the nutrient from the grass clippings into the soil and improve the soil structure while they do this so I would think this is a better method to get something back from the clippings.

Maybe not for trees and shrubs, but for the vegetable garden (for leafy vegetables), it'd be good.