What to do with all this stinkin grass.....

vidapura

Hi,
I'm not much of a gardener.. never had a garden before.
Finally bought a house. Now I have about 1000sq metres of lawn.

I'm hating having to spend hours and hours cutting it. Very annoying the way it doesnt Stay cut ..:D

I kept askin people if I could just get a sheep or an alpaca or something..
I've stopped now tho.. the bemused looks and shakes of the head are too depressing...:rolleyes:

So, at least I bought an electric start lawnmower.. brand new...that helps a lot.. but wish I could have afforded a ride-on.

Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the stinking melting mountain of grass thats been building up in the back corner of the garden all summer...

Surely people don't all just let it sit there turning to black muck?

Is there no good use it could be put to? Or some way to get rid of it?
At this rate in five years I'll have more pile than lawn...

Is there any way to manage it ? I was thinkin of building some sort of silage pit?

I dunno.. anyway.. if anyone has anything constructive to say I'd appreciate hearing it...

NSAman

Buy a mulching kit for the lawn mower....

Harry Palmr

Leave it on the lawn when you cut it. It'll mulch into the grass bed pretty quickly, the trick is cutting little and often.

loyatemu

robotic mower?

magicbastarder

plant trees.

vidapura

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Leave it on the lawn when you cut it. It'll mulch into the grass bed pretty quickly, the trick is cutting little and often.

Thanks Harry,
Living on the Wesht coast doesn't seem to allow for cutting often.. the Toro yoke doesn't seem to be able to cope with wet grass... keeps just claggin up ...

Its a Toro Recycler mower.. so the intention was to be able to get it low enough to be able to leave the mulch on the ground..

But somehow, between rain and the kids, I never seem to get below a height setting of 3... much too long to leave down.. twould be (AFAIK) be moss city in no time...

I dunno, maybe ye know better about how to cope with rain...

vidapura

loyatemu wrote: »

robotic mower?

Yah, if I'm lamenting not being able to buy a ride-on I doubt I'd be able to buy a robotic one.. they're thousands arent they?

Still wondering why sheep or alpacas aren't ever a viable alternative anyway....

macraignil

vidapura wrote: »

Hi,
I'm not much of a gardener.. never had a garden before.
Finally bought a house. Now I have about 1000sq metres of lawn.

I'm hating having to spend hours and hours cutting it. Very annoying the way it doesnt Stay cut ..:D

I kept askin people if I could just get a sheep or an alpaca or something..
I've stopped now tho.. the bemused looks and shakes of the head are too depressing...:rolleyes:

So, at least I bought an electric start lawnmower.. brand new...that helps a lot.. but wish I could have afforded a ride-on.

Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the stinking melting mountain of grass thats been building up in the back corner of the garden all summer...

Surely people don't all just let it sit there turning to black muck?

Is there no good use it could be put to? Or some way to get rid of it?
At this rate in five years I'll have more pile than lawn...

Is there any way to manage it ? I was thinkin of building some sort of silage pit?

I dunno.. anyway.. if anyone has anything constructive to say I'd appreciate hearing it...

Some people do just let it sit there and break down. That black muck you describe is actually full of nutrients that were in the grass and when it breaks down the earth worms will help bring it into the soil and give it more fertility for other plants to grow well. You could just plant some shrubs or small trees that will benefit from the grass clipping composting and also could hide it from view so you don't need to look at it. The trees and shrubs would also reduce the amount of lawn by taking up space of their own.


Alternatively some people compost it properly by getting it piled up high and protecting it from some of the rain. If it gets some moisture and is given good aeration and mixed or turned occasionally then it will sometimes decompose warm enough to kill weed seeds and thus make better compost.



My parents compost heap for grass clippings is under a couple of mature apple trees that have always given great crops thanks in some part to the nutrients from the grass clippings. I sometimes spread it to other parts of the garden where I have other fruit and vegetables growing.


In my own garden I take the approach of having a number of smaller compost heaps that are under trees and shrubs and consume the grass clippings and fertilise more trees and shrubs than if I had just one big compost heap with less work in collecting it all to one compost heap and spreading it around the garden once it has broken down. I have enough trees and shrubs planted that these compost heaps are out of view most of the time. You can add organic kitchen waste to a compost heap as well but avoid left over meat as it can draw rats and potatoes that have not been cut up or otherwise killed as they can lead to an accidental crop. Here is a clip of the potato plants growing and the ones growing out of my compost heap are usually very strong plants because of the good nutrient levels.



Silage is a way of preserving cut grass that involves sealing it off from the elements and allowing the partial decomposition of the grass increase the acidity so it is protected from further break down and remains of use in feeding to animals. You mention you do not want the grass clippings accumulating so preserving it as silage would not help.

Gael23

Into the bin. It will break down in the dump eventually

mrcheez

I wish I had a lawn just so I could get a robotic mower. Already have a robot hoovering my house, so it would be fantastic to have one hoovering outside too.

Prices don't seem *too* bad on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mcculloch-1000-Robotic-Lawn-Mower/dp/B01N0Y4IK7/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=robotic+mower&qid=1571843632&sr=8-13

CelticRambler

If you intend to keep it all as lawn, then you're just going to have to find a place to dump it. I have about three times as much as you, though, and never have enough clippings! I use it on any part of the garden where I want to grow something other than grass the following year: pile it up in the relevant zone, cut after cut after cut; forget about over the winter; then in the spring, clear it off and you've got a lovely (almost completely) grass- and weed-free patch of soil underneath. The manky stuff then gets dug into wherever I'm growing interesting plants, especially veg.

I also lay it down between my potato drills, which keeps them weed-free until the potatoes themselves have enough growth on them. It also lets me walk down those lines without compacting the soil, and (again) adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil for whatever's going in there the following year.

baaba maal

Gael23 wrote: »

Into the bin. It will break down in the dump eventually

I disagree. Sending large volumes of grass to landfill is an ongoing expense that nobody needs and just adds to our waste problem. Even assuming the OP has a brown bin, it would obviously be swamped dealing with the volume of grass.

I have set up a composting area at the back of my shed- simple wooden pallets screwed together to form three-sided bays. With the acre I have I use two bays over the growing season. The reduction in volume is amazing over the summer so by the end of the growing season I cover over these bays with plastic sheeting to keep the rain off and leave them over the following year. I use the other two bays for the second year's growth and at the end of the second summer I dig out the well-rotted clippings (now composted) and use it as mulch around trees and shrubs. Then use the first two bays again in year three.

I add some paper and cardboard as I tip the grass in, but it is important to be careful as a lot of this has a plastic film and you don't want to be putting that around the garden with the compost.

I pick up the pallets for free and get free compost from the grass clippings, so once the area is screened it is the ideal solution for me.

Doop

Give over a percentage of your lawn to a wild flower meadow... problem halved right there!

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/gardens/go-wild-in-the-garden-how-to-sow-your-own-wildflower-meadow-1.3480379

NSAman

Doop wrote: »

Give over a percentage of your lawn to a wild flower meadow... problem halved right there!
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Yeah a friend of mine did that with his lawns.... problem is, he is a lazy ass and it didn't quite fly with the local authorities here who fined him for not cutting his grass.....

macraignil

NSAman wrote: »

Yeah a friend of mine did that with his lawns.... problem is, he is a lazy ass and it didn't quite fly with the local authorities here who fined him for not cutting his grass.....

Where is that?


I never heard of local authorities being allowed issue fines for letting your grass grow longer. I have heard of many environmentally conscious people advocating letting lawns grow longer to benefit pollinators which are under threat and vital to pollination of crops for our food. Seems crazy if they are allowed do this while I regularly see weeds outlawed by legislation growing on local authority controlled land. Rag worth, doc leaves, etc.

magicbastarder

i've heard of it happening in the states, anyway. not in ireland.

taytobreath

those robotic lawn mowers arent that expensive. this one gets good reviews

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flymo-1200-Lithium-Ion-Robotic-Lawnmower/dp/B00C70LUQ4/ref=pd_sbs_60_1/260-6106916-1719053?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00C70LUQ4&pd_rd_r=f9dea412-5873-4026-88e2-afdde30fe113&pd_rd_w=DIeVv&pd_rd_wg=Dvfg7&pf_rd_p=cc188cba-1892-42b3-956f-6c67d0ab7a00&pf_rd_r=RR7SKT54MFDDY1HZAM41&psc=1&refRID=RR7SKT54MFDDY1HZAM41

vidapura

taytobreath wrote: »

those robotic lawn mowers arent that expensive. this one gets good reviews

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flymo-1200-Lithium-Ion-Robotic-Lawnmower/dp/B00C70LUQ4/ref=pd_sbs_60_1/260-6106916-1719053?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00C70LUQ4&pd_rd_r=f9dea412-5873-4026-88e2-afdde30fe113&pd_rd_w=DIeVv&pd_rd_wg=Dvfg7&pf_rd_p=cc188cba-1892-42b3-956f-6c67d0ab7a00&pf_rd_r=RR7SKT54MFDDY1HZAM41&psc=1&refRID=RR7SKT54MFDDY1HZAM41

"Flymo 1200 R Lithium-Ion Robotic Lawnmower, cuts a lawn size up to 400m²"

So I'd need two...:rolleyes:... and a half...:D

shane b

I have a similiar sized lawn and looking at getting a robot next spring. A husgavarna one installed is 2500 euro. Currently cutting it using a 21 inch mulch mower.
I'm lucky that there is a civic amenity centre 15 mins ago that takes green waste so I can dispose of the grass and hedge clippings there.

eusap

I built a compost bin from spare pallets, during the summer i fill it up. And then next spring try empty much of it around the trees etc..... This year we built 4 raised flower beds from scaffold planks and lined the bottom with the rotten grass, worked a treat.

Just about to purchase a simple spike aerator from Amazon to try get some more air in to the pile

vidapura

shane b wrote: »

I have a similiar sized lawn and looking at getting a robot next spring. A husgavarna one installed is 2500 euro. Currently cutting it using a 21 inch mulch mower.
I'm lucky that there is a civic amenity centre 15 mins ago that takes green waste so I can dispose of the grass and hedge clippings there.

Wait !

What?

Where are civic amenity centres? And can I dump grass there?

Is this in Ireland?

baaba maal

http://www.mywaste.ie

Has most waste facilities listed, but check locally as they may not have everything itemised.

vidapura

baaba maal wrote: »

http://www.mywaste.ie

Has most waste facilities listed, but check locally as they may not have everything itemised.

Thanks for that, very handy.
Sadly, nothing within 50 miles of me will accept grass it seems.

Thanks tho..

eusap

location?

looksee

I have a mountain of mixed brambles and twiggy branches which is an impenetrable heap - a couple of meters wide, about 10 m long and 1.5 high. And that's just one of them! No idea what I am going to do with them. Decent size of garden so could put them all in a corner, but moving it is the issue, tangled 8ft briars (and longer) don't handily go in a wheelbarrow! Don't really want to take a big machine or truck onto the garden, its all at the far end of a longish acre, up hill. Have a small chipper but its not really suitable for feeding into. Too loose to burn (yes, I know, but...). I think its going to be an endless job of hacking it into manageable chunks with a shears, :eek::(

eusap

Option 1: hire a bigger chipper for the weekend

Option 2: depending on location there is a few place around the east coast taking green waste, i regularly use the one near maynooth about €40 for a 8x4 trailer with mesh sides

magicbastarder

i've chopped stuff a bit like that with an electric hedge trimmer before; you just keep working away at it and it'll all collapse into a more manageable heap. you may end up coming out of it looking like someone dropped you into a bag of cats though.

CelticRambler

My current strategy for dealing with brambles is:
(a) cut progressively with a hedge trimmer
(b) drag the cut brambles to a staging post
(c) feed them into a Lidl shredder, bought for the purpose a few months ago.

I've been progressively clearning areas of about the same size as yours for the last couple of years. Until I bought the shredder, I was heaping them in the bonfire zone and burning them (twice a year), but the bonfire zone is about to be reclaimed and this year's drought made bonfires a definite no-no, so I started heaping them in a convenient hole at the back. Didn't take long for that to be filled in and overflowing (and this is a 3m-deep hole we're talking about! :pac: )

I was dubious about shredder but with a decent pair of gloves to feed them in, it chomps through the brambles like nobody's business. Still can't quite believe the drastic reduction in volume each time I process a batch.

The hedge trimmer is amazing for brambles. It was a freeby with the strimmer/brushcutter I went in to buy, but I never use the strimmer any more for brambles. With a second pair of hands to pull the loose stuff away, you can clear 10-20m² to ground level in about half an hour

CalamariFritti

Best option is leave it there where it will feed your lawn or alternatively build a compost heap where it will turn into, well, compost. 1000 m^2 and electric lawnmower is probably no fun either.

pwurple

Plant trees or shrubs instead of grass. A lovely woodland mix of small trees with a few stepping stone paths through them will be beautiful in every season, grow away themselves happily not bothering you.

Grass is just about the highest maintenance thing anyone can plant, there is no other plant that needs almost weekly attention. There is such a mind-warp in wanting a low maintenance garden and then turning around and planting grass of all things.

looksee

Yes I was thinking of getting a hedge trimmer and it would be quicker than shears. The shredder is going to be tried out this weekend, it needs a heck of a long cable to it though, which I hope I have (long enough). It is just utterly daunting lying there like a great prickly monster!

CelticRambler

looksee wrote: »

The shredder is going to be tried out this weekend, it needs a heck of a long cable to it though, which I hope I have (long enough).

Mine too, which is why I bring the brambles to the shredder instead of the other way 'round. You don't say how thick/deep the monster is, but if you cut about 5m² at a time*, you can "bundle" up the pile and literally roll it anywhere you want without leaving too much débris behind. I use one of these to pull it all together:


Before getting the shredder, could jab it into the "bundle" and carry it over my shoulder to the dump-zone.


* When I'm working on my own, I slice 10m x 0.5m off the edge facing me in three passes: first pass, vertical, along the line, to neaten up the outer edge; second pass, horizontal, at mid-chest height to neaten up the top and help me see the section I want to clear; third pass, vertical at about 50cm back from the edge, then sweep down and horizontally just above the ground. The last pass usually has the effect of throwing the cut section out a bit, allowing me to walk up the back of it without getting ripped to shreds. I clear that lot, then do the next section in the opposite direction to make it easy on my knackered vertebrae!